Michael Flowers, aka
Mike City, achieved great success as a songwriter and producer behind
Carl Thomas' "I Wish,"
Sunshine Anderson's "Heard It All Before," and
Brandy's "Full Moon." He started well before that and continues decades later with work that has included not just mature contemporary R&B, but gospel, rap, pop, and house as well. A few years after he graduated from North Carolina Central University, Flowers established himself by producing, presenting, and appearing on the rap compilation The N.C. All Star Project, Vol. 1 (1997), after which he released an R&B-oriented solo album,
City Limits (1998). Following those recordings, he worked primarily behind the scenes. He made his commercial breakthrough with work for
Thomas and scored subsequent major hits with
Anderson and
Brandy around the time albums from
Bilal,
Babyface, and
Usher arrived with his touch. Flowers worked steadily through the next couple decades without being confined to one genre;
Karen Clark-Sheard,
the Game, and
Rihanna were among those who sought his skills. During the mid-2010s, Flowers concentrated on soul-rooted house music, and featured as a lead vocalist on several singles from labels such as Tribe and
Defected. For the BBE label, he also produced
The Feel Good Agenda, Vol. 1 (2017), with vocals from several of his past associates, including
Thomas,
Faith Evans,
Lalah Hathaway, and
Dwele. ~ Andy Kellman