Dearest Community,

One of our true stalwarts of local culture needs your help. Michael Marshall, aka Mike Meezy, aka The Voice of the Bay, aka Mr. “Rumors,” aka Mr. “I Got 5 On It” is facing a difficult short-term financial future and is humbly asking for your donations to support his medical recovery.

If you know Mike, you know that this isn’t an easy ask for him. But one of the oddities of being a working artist is that you aren’t covered by traditional social-safety-net programs. By working continuously in music since the mid-1980s, Mike can’t exactly tap into that company 401K to cover medical costs. He is 60 years old. Rent is due. His car was recently repossessed. He can’t get to work — even if he could work. His recovery is well documented. This is no relapse, just real life. And this is where you come in.

Maybe you got hyped every time the Timex Social Club’s “Rumors” came on KSOL back in 1986. Maybe you sang along with your blunt in the air to The Luniz’s “I Got 5 On It.” Maybe you went to one (or 50) of the Mo’Fessionals’ shows when Mike was a member of that quintessential Bay Area band. Maybe you turned the Zapco up to “blapper levels” to bump any one of the dozens of tracks Mike did with E-40, Too $hort, or other Bay Area hip-hop legends. Maybe you’re waiting patiently for the release of K.I.M. 4 with fellow local legend Equipto (it’s on the way!).

If so, here’s the ask.

Mike is scheduled to have knee-replacement surgery on October 17th. Unfortunately, the condition of his knee has worsened in the interim and he has had to take relief from his day job at Nabalom. Mike will be out a minimum of several months while he recovers, and we are crowdsourcing living expenses for that period of time, as well as enough to cover the modicum of debt that Mike has incurred in the run-up to surgery.

Meezy is a local treasure. He deserves our support and will be back out there performing in the public eye as soon as medically possible. For now, we humbly ask, “Do you got five on it?” Five of whatever denomination is in your wheelhouse. Five for Mike. Show a beloved local legend that you’ve still got five on it. It would mean a lot.

Photo: Mike Mayeri