MIKE: “Stop Worry!” [ft. Sister Nancy] Track Review

Narcotic delivery, nostalgic samples, desaturated production. We’ve come to expect these from a MIKE track, and most of the people allowed into his world tend to yield to his weary disposition, a testament to his soft power. But on his latest single “Stop Worry,” MIKE collaborates with dancehall pioneer Sister Nancy, who refuses to mute her siren call. “Wake up!” she demands, to a squeaking synthesizer refrain. The song is a tug-of-war between his wooziness and Nancy’s unwavering glow; MIKE grumbles about fame and “another summer with them grey clouds,” while Sister Nancy insists, “Mike have to rise up! … I say the hungry must be fed, I say the blind must be led.” 

Even as she shines, MIKE’s grief for his mother, a grief he has been writing from since 2019’s Tears of Joy, is still with him; he dedicates the music video for “Stop Worry!” to her. Together, he and Nancy show the beginnings of moving forward after a great loss. But compared with the wintriness of his previous output, the song is a more auspicious mourning. “I wear your number when it’s game time,” he says to his mother. “Stop Worry!” indicates that he intends to step into the sunlight, in his own way.