MICHAEL PAULINO-ALBAN IS A CHARLOTTE-BASED CREATIVE WHO HAS A PASSION FOR CREATIVE EXPLORATION + EXPERIMENTATION. INSPIRED BY COLLABORATION, HIS WORK IS OFTEN TIED TO MANY DIFFERENT ARTISTS AND INDIVIDUALS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY. MIKE PRIDES HIMSELF ON HIS ARTISTIC EXPRESSION, FINDING PURPOSE PREDOMINANTLY IN THE WORLDS OF MUSIC, PHOTOGRAPHY, GRAPHIC DESIGN + STREETWEAR FASHION.

ALTHOUGH HE CURRENTLY RESIDES IN NORTH CAROLINA, MUCH OF HIS INSPIRATION IS DRAWN FROM HIS HOME STATE: NEW YORK. IN 2010, MIKE BEGAN THE TRANSITION FROM NORTH TO SOUTH AS HE BEGAN ATTENDING THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE AT THE AGE OF 17. HE GRADUATED FOUR YEARS LATER WITH A DUAL MAJOR DEGREE IN ELEMENTARY & SPECIAL EDUCATION.

MICHAEL HAS ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN ALL THINGS CREATIVE, BUT DIDN'T BEGIN A SERIOUS PURSUIT UNTIL AFTER COLLEGE. HE PURCHASED A NIKON D3300, + FROM THERE HE BEGAN DEVELOPING AN UNDERSTANDING OF NOT ONLY PHOTOGRAPHY, BUT HIS OWN UNIQUE STYLE. AFTER SOME UPGRADES, HE BEGAN COLLABORATING WITH OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS, ARTISTS + DESIGNERS FROM ALL OVER THE SOUTHEAST. FROM HERE, HIS VISUALS BEGAN TO DEVELOP + EVENTUALLY EVOLVED INTO A NEW STREAM OF BUSINESS.

AS HIS CREATIVITY GREW + MINDSET MATURED, MIKE DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO PURSUE HIS LOVE OF FASHION. IN 2017 HE STARTED HIS OWN CLOTHING LINE -- FRESHMAN YEAR CO. -- A STREETWEAR COMPANY THAT STRIVES TO MAKE GOD KNOWN BY "SPARKING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE CREATOR OF CREATIVITY."  THE LINE HAS SUCCESSFULLY SPONSORED, BEEN SPONSORED BY, AND CONTINUES TO SPONSOR MANY ARTISTS ACROSS THE NATION.

FOLLOWING THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIS CLOTHING LINE, MICHAEL BEGAN TO PURSUE MUSIC. HIS ALIAS NXTMIKE (PRONOUNCED 'NEXT MIKE') SIGNIFIES HIS OLD SELF BEING DEAD + GONE, HAVING BEEN MADE NEW THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. HE STRIVES FOR EXCELLENCE BY COMBINING INTIMATE LYRICS, HEAVY BASS-DRIVEN INSTRUMENTALS, + WILDLY ENGAGING LIVE PERFORMANCES. ABOVE ALL, HIS MISSION IS TO REMOVE HIMSELF FROM ALL SPOTLIGHTS + FOCUS ALL THE ATTENTION ON GOD.

MIKE IS ALSO THE FOUNDER/CREATOR OF THE TRAPSHIP COLLECTIVE (EST. 2021), A GROUP OF ARTISTS WHO STRIVE TO MAKE THE CREATOR OF CREATIVITY KNOWN THROUGH THE GENRE OF MUSIC KNOWN AS 'TRAPSHIP' (WHERE TRAP DRUMS MEET WORSHIP MUSIC). THE ARTISTS ARE CONSISTENTLY "TRAPPED IN WORSHIP, WITH NO DESIRE TO ESCAPE."

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