Micky Be

About Micky Be

Mireille Boudewijns aka "Micky B", is a singer/songwriter and recording artist from Antwerp (BE).
Her voice has been noticed by various artists which gave her the opportunity to be the support act for Rebellion the Recaller, Charly Black, Macka B, Cocoa Tea and I-Wayne.
She is proud to announce there are some fun collaborations to come.
This Turkish/Belgian songstress combines heartical messages and positive vibrations with a touch of militancy.
Her sweet vocals and lyrics are her trademark to the point you can call her a modern day "Griot".
She tells stories as reminders of the past, shares experiences, gives guidance and preaches oneness wherever she goes.

Micky B's discography includes 6 singles with producer Arky Starch/Roar like a Bass, who can be found on the album "Cry for Love & Unity" and a remix of the Dubpistols feat. Rhoda Dakar "Stand together".

FULL BIO:
Dub, Roots, Dance hall, Rocksteady, Ska, Lover's Rock... Mireille Boudewijns, aka "Micky B", is a singer/songwriter and recording artist from Antwerp, Belgium who does it all.
This Turkish/Belgian songstress combines heartical messages and positive vibrations with a touch of militancy.
Her sweet vocals and lyrics are her trademark to the point you can call her a modern day "Griot".
She tells stories as reminders of the past, shares experiences, gives guidance and preaches oneness wherever she goes.

Micky B’s role models are very divers and go from artists like Peter Tosh, Luckie Dube, Nasio Fontaine, Bob Marley, Lee Scratch Perry, Misty in Roots, The Twinkle Brothers, The Abyssinians, Akea Beka, Dezarie to Khadja Nin, Angelique Kidjo, Manu Dibango to the Swedish Robyn and so many others. Truly eclectic.

The love for singing started after a visit with school to church. A choir was busy with practice, and she fell in love instantly with the power of emotions in the vocals and how it uplifted the spirit. To the surprise of her atheist parents but with acceptance from them, she started attending church service every Sunday for the singing. She was six years old at that time.

In school, she was already known for her creativity in writing short stories, poetry and children's rhymes, singing and thinking up choreographies for her fellow students who wished to perform something at the open stage at the yearly school festivity. What she loved the most was writing songs for children's puppet shows.

Her spotted talent led her to become the lead singer of a cover band, an ensemble of various teachers, she was 9, who would perform not only at schools but also at elderly homes which made her fall in love with old time classics from as early as the 40s and to her very first recording in a professional studio (BRT1) at the age of 12 for the school musical "the Mandrake". Her first introduction to the world of alchemy, sound and the power of it all combined with word.

At the age of 15 she had attended numerous singing contests, won various prices and got proposals for contracts who she thought were unacceptable, and she got very disappointed in the world surrounding the music. However, she kept writing poetry and songs for other artists.
It took an accidental meeting with Calvin Ward (UK), lead singer of the former reggae band Njuka Groove 10 years later (2002) for her to get the "Push" to start writing and singing again for herself after he heard her singing at a Christmas block party and told her straight after hearing her story that it was a "blood clot shame with a voice like that to be writing for others"!
She took it to heart and the journey began.

In 2006, she met Henri Roggeman, an accomplished drummer with over 20 years of experience at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who helped her shape the music she needed to sing the songs she had already written. It was a challenge for both since every song started with her vocals and harmonies instead of instrumental first, but it worked. Together they formed a band called Santokusystem and delivered Micky's messages in genres from pop to rock to soul to reggae.
However, they noticed the reggae vibes were always the favorites of the crowd, which made sense since she herself had already made the remark of feeling most at ease chanting on those vibrations.

Unfortunately, the members of the band had no interest in playing reggae music.
Henri stuck by her side, and they created a whole new set list of self written reggae songs.
In 2012, she was ready for a try-out with a crowd, looked for two backing vocalists to reinforce her sound which was a CD of non-mastered or even mixed instrumental reggae riddims created in a home studio by a musician who never made reggae before.
It was an instant success since the crowd loved it, and she knew she made the right choice, but clearly she also needed professional musical help to perfect these improvised riddims for her stories.

Her voice has been noticed by various artists which gave her the opportunity to be the support act for Rebellion the Recaller, Charly Black, Macka B, Cocoa Tea and I-Wayne. As so many artists, lack of financial space, empty promises, private issues and finding a producer with the right ideology, caused a serious delay on her dream of bringing out an album and performing live, but she kept writing in silence for herself and singing as a backing vocalist for Ras Fire & The Roots Rockers (NL) until he passed away in 2019.

In 2020, she was contacted by Arky Starch ( Ilias Schellekens) for backing vocals for another artist, to which she gladly said yes. However, that never happened, instead he sends her a bunch of riddims with the request to write and sing on them.
Now, receiving riddims for vocals is nothing new, but listening to his riddims touched her in a spiritual way to the point the chant and words come naturally.
His musical/personal past and hers makes it sound like she found the Ar(ch)k and in December she releases her first single "Power abuse".
She is proud to announce there are many more fun collaborations to come.


Follow MickyB on:
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You can buy our music at:
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We are also on Spotify and Bandcamp

Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for future videoclips and online live performances
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Hope to see you soon!