Mitchelle'l Sium was born in Houston, Texas, to a father from Eritrea, a nation on the Eastern coast of Africa, and a mother of Creole descent.[1]
Musical career
Career beginnings
In late 2007, Sium capitalized upon the promotional capacity of the internet and used Myspace as a platform to expand the reach of his music.[1] He captured the attention of Hannah Kang, general manager for Atlanta-based record label Grand Hustle Records and was introduced to American rapper and Grand Hustle label-boss, T.I.[1] In 2008, Sium had signed a recording contract with Grand Hustle Records.[2] In 2008, Sium was featured on a song titled “Collect Call”, which was included as a bonus track on T.I.’s highly acclaimed sixth album, Paper Trail.[1] He teamed up with T.I. again in 2010, alongside Scarface, on the song "How Life Changed", from the No Mercy album.[1] On September 23, 2011, he released a song titled "Only a Few".[3] In 2011, he appeared on Jeezy’s long-awaited Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition album, on a song called "Higher Learning."[1] His debut single "Irene" features Maybach Music's Wale, production by Grand Hustle record producer C-Gutta and co-written by actor Omar Epps.
Artistry
Voice and songwriting
The in-house disc jockey of Grand Hustle, DJ MLK, has described Sium as "sound[ing] like a young Maxwell."[4] In 2012, American radio show host and internet celebrity B. Scott, wrote in a review that he "sounds a bit like Maxwell meets Van Hunt".[5] Also in 2012, after the release of a song titled "Irene", from Sium's mixtape of the same name, grownfolksmusic.com wrote "Mitchelle’l already has a smooth, soulful vibe going that is reminiscent of artists like Maxwell and Robin Thicke and works just fine without a guest rapper. Hopefully there are more sensual, smoothed-out tracks like this one coming down the line from Mitchelle’l."[6]
Influences
Mitchelle’l grew up listening to and was deeply inspired by the kings of soul music, including Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Otis Redding.[1] He later gravitated towards more contemporary R&B offerings from R. Kelly, Jodeci and D’Angelo.[1] As he began to create music, he incorporated the elements that had inspired him from a musical sense along with the things he experienced in the world around him.[1]
Discography
Mixtapes
List of mixtapes, with selected details and year released
