‘My Ideals Aren’t For Sale’: Miky Woodz on Staying Real and Having a Good B.S. Detector

Miky Woodz, one of Puerto Rico’s most distinct trap rappers,  has a style that’s totally his own: As an artist,  his flow owes more to hip-hop, due to his bar-heavy verses and inspired rapid fire rhymes. His look also stands out due to his unique and frothy red beard, and colorful tattoos across his entire torso. Oh yeah, he also had a stint as a pro basketball player.

This past Friday, he added one more thing to his resume by dropping his newest album, Everything RiaL. He’s released albums nearly every year and consistently collaborated with some of music’s biggest names. He’s become a mainstay and fan favorite of the genre, coming up alongside artists like Anuel Aa, Ozuna, and even Bad Bunny.

On Everything RiaL ( titled after his longtime catchphrase), Woodz explores the authenticity of people in the music industry, the streets, and himself. Notably, he dedicates a song to fathers, inspired by his own experience raising his son, who is now a pre-teen. In this exclusive interview, he talked to us about the highs and lows of fatherhood, his time on the court, and how he uses his “bullshit” radar to weed out industry fakes who are and aren’t honest.

How did you differentiate this project from your last two albums, OG City and Built Different? What were you thinking about? 
They’re different concepts: OG City is more like that community that supports Miky Woodz; I also organize basketball teams, softball teams, and that was the nickname I gave them. That’s why I decided to make the OG City album. The concept was about that very thing: the Miky Woodz community. With Built Different, the concept was [to be] more motivational.

For Everything RiaL, that’s one of the slogans that has been associated with me since the beginning of my career. I decided to take advantage of that slogan with this new album. It’s fully trap, unlike the other projects I’ve done. I’d never done an all-trap project. It’s part of the plan we’ve been working on since I signed with Rimas. [They] always asked to make a full trap album.

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But when it comes to music, I really just go with the flow. I always like to mix things up a bit, from street trap tracks to personal ones, and even tracks for the girls. I can’t really say I stick to one specific style every time I put together a project.

Despite collaborating extensively on singles and other projects, your own albums typically don’t feature many guest artists, and Everything RiaL is no different. Is that a deliberate choice?
I’m a person who, when I give my word, I keep it. In this industry, not everyone behaves the same and that’s why you see me collaborating with lots of artists, because I have a good relationship with everyone. 

When the singles are for other people, it’s easier. The [invitation] comes up, and there’s never much “but.” When it’s for an album, it gets a little complicated with the paperwork. It conflicts with dates, it often takes a while for the project to come out, and each artist has their own plans, and when the project takes a while, maybe the plan doesn’t materialize. 

On this album, you have a song for your son called, appropriately, “Carta a un Hjo” (“Letter to a Son”.) When did you become a father?

When he was born I was 25 years old, just starting my music career. I was already getting some airplay, but I didn’t yet have a defined career or a song of my own that people would say, “Damn, that’s him.” He grew up alongside my career.

Was that around the age your parents had you?
No, they had me even younger! They were around 20. My dad is exactly 20 years older than me, and my mom was 19 or so.

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What do you feel has been the most enjoyable part of being a young father?
I always wanted to have a kid at a young age. Not that early, but I feel like I had him at a good age. I said that as he grew up I wanted to play basketball with him, play sports, not be [old] and unable to move. And at first, everything was fine.

About halfway through, things started nagging at me, because, like I said, we started my career together. Then my career kept growing, kept evolving, I started traveling, I started going abroad, and obviously I wasn’t spending time with him. It started to affect me to see him learning to walk and things like that and not being there, and then the pandemic happened, and I realized how precious family is.

And that’s why I haven’t had any more children, really, because I’m focused on work, and you have to dedicate a lot of time to your children. I can honestly say it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. He really likes sports, and I identify with him a lot. His attitude too, but that’s why you’re here, to help guide him, lead him down the right path and prevent him from making the same mistakes you made.

And  was “Carta a un Hjo” easy to write? Or did you take your time because it’s such an important topic?
It’s easier, since it comes from the heart — it’s a real topic. Of course you can sing about real things from the street, but you can’t be too explicit or detailed, and there comes a point when you’re writing several songs with the same concept.

Now, with this song, even though I have several songs that refer to family I didn’t have one about a specific loved one, much less a son. But I think it’s easier because it’s about letting it all out. I’m talking about what I really feel towards him, and I release it all on paper by writing it down.

And the song isn’t specifically about my son, either. It’s about all the fathers who hustle, regardless of the circumstances, whether they’re with their child’s mother or not… You can’t neglect your child. That’s the message I try hardest to convey in the song.

You’re also not just a fan of basketball, but you even played professionally in college and Puerto Rico. How did that happen?
I started playing baseball as a kid and then, around 12 or 13, I started playing both sports at the same time. Then I got a basketball scholarship to Penn State, and I played there for a year.

During my free time there, I started writing, wanting to get into music. But I didn’t really see myself as an artist or think I was going to make a living from it or that it was going to be my future. Then some problems came up, and I had to return to Puerto Rico, and that’s when I decided to dedicate myself fully to music.

You played for the Gigantes de Carolina in the islands’ Liga de Baloncesto Puertorriqueña (LBP), which is their minor league, and then, you were actually drafted in 2023 by the Piratas de Quebradillas of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN), which is their pro league. You never actually played though. Was that because of professional commitments?
At that time, I was working on the album OG City, and when the draft happened, we couldn’t reach an agreement to [allow me to] complete it. Besides, the team that drafted me was very far away, about two and a half hours from where I live. It was going to take up a lot of my time, which was really complicated, and I was most likely going to have to move there because of the two-hour commute every day, and well, it didn’t work out.

My vision was to fulfill that dream of being there on the professional court. It wasn’t about wanting to be the star, nor about showing up like “I’m Miky Woodz, I want to play [because of who I am].” No, I also wanted to practice with the team, for the coach to see my talents, for me to earn my place. But unfortunately, it didn’t happen, but I’m still very happy [about the draft.]

If you didn’t have the album to finish, would you  have committed to playing a full season?
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. Although obviously music is paramount, music is how I put food on the table, it’s what I’m passionate about. But I’m also passionate about sports. I wasn’t doing it for money or anything like that, simply for the love of basketball, for the love of the sport.

I imagine you play pick-up every once a while?
Of course, now is when I’m most active! I’m the [rookie] Cooper Flagg of the Masters Basketball Association now, you hear? I’m playing in a couple of tournaments here and there. That’s my cardio, my way of staying in shape too.

The music video for “Carta a un Hijo” shows your son playing sports, and you mentioned he’s into them. What would you prefer: if he becomes an athlete, or if he becomes an artist?
Oh no, definitely sports! Music, when he’s older, he can decide. Music is a whole other world. It’s incredibly big and incredibly complicated for a child and for people who aren’t mentally prepared. I think that being in music is a decision you have to make as an adult, when you’re ready.

You’ve been in the industry for a couple of years now, since the first trap wave in 2016. Now that you’re a veteran, you’re seeing these new artists emerging, and new styles of trap and Latin rap, new subgenres. Do you feel like you have to study new trends to keep up with them, or do they challenge you?
Well, I think that with any genre, [it’s simply] about working on it well: that the artist puts in the effort, because there are many talented artists, and any talented artist who works hard and stays focused on the music, well, I think that’s great. Personally, I don’t study every new style that comes out, but if I like it and I know I can do it, I’ll go for it too.

What I don’t like is that nowadays, the music isn’t the most important thing. These days it’s more about how you market yourself online, the ridiculous things you do online, or how you get attention online. Period. They don’t give as much importance to the music itself anymore. They get fans, obviously, but now people first see what you did to promote the song and then they look for the song itself. And that’s what I don’t like much about the new stuff.

I also come from social media [in 2016.] I used to record myself in the car and record all those videos, but not like it was fake content, like I’d later say, “Oh, that’s just a character” or “That’s not actually me.” No, I create content that’s musical and promotes my music.

With new technology and social media these days, new artists, wannabe A&R representatives, and managers are popping up every week. Do you feel it’s become difficult to discern the authenticity of people in the industry, as the title of this album suggests?
Honestly, I don’t know if it’s a gift I have, but I can kind of sense it. You read people. You can more or less see how people behave, and you can already tell what kind of person they are.

I’ve always been the same person. I respect others so that I’m respected in return. I’ve never had a personal problem with any colleague or anything like that, because there’s never been that kind of disrespect. But there are many artists who aren’t genuine, and the real problem is that if the fans support them or buy the act, well, they’re going to keep being the same, you know?

They’re going to say, “If I’m not genuine but people are still supporting me, why should I have to be genuine?” But that’s more about the artist’s vision, the artist’s ideals. In my case, my ideals aren’t for sale. I do what I feel is right, so that when I’m alone in a room looking in the mirror, I feel proud of the way we’ve achieved success.

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It’s instinct for you to tell if someone new you’re meeting is genuine or a bullshitter, then
Immediately! Old and new, bro, old and new. That’s how it is. The thing is, a lot of people have a talent for deceiving the public. That’s a talent too. And if the fans keep buying it, in the end, it’s them who put the artists where we are. So, if the fans support it…

Remember that the fans also don’t know what goes on behind the scenes, or behind the Instagram feed, or behind the camera, and that’s what the artist sells themselves. And if the artist has that gift for deceiving people, they’re going to make it, and I feel like there are a lot of artists who have achieved success because of that, for real.