XLi3h (pronounced exélixi) is Stereo Mike’s first album of the major-label trilogy he embarked on when signing with Minos-EMI in 2007. The title is in leet and stands for ‘evolution’ in Greek.
After the crossover success of his debut album Satyroi Nomades in 2006, which birthed the “Best Hip-Hop Video”-nominated singles ‘O Allos Babis’ and ‘I Polis’ (directed by Richard Penna, 2006), Mike was offered multiple deals, but chose EMI on the basis of his developing collaborations. These included local folk legend Haris Alexiou, Andriana Babali and the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, resulting in three of the album’s four singles: ‘Fevgo’, ‘Des Kathara’ and ‘Anagnorisi’, respectively. The fourth single, ‘Perea Mou’, a tribute to his hometown of Piraeus, his childhood friends and homies, inadvertently became the modern anthem for the Greek Olympiacos sports team. ‘Fevgo’ received two VMA nominations for “Best Hip-Hop Video” and “Video of the Year” (directed by Richard Penna, 2008) and ‘Perea Mou’ (directed by Dimitris Sylvestros) received two further nominations the following year for “Best Hip-Hop Video” and “Artist of the Year” (2009).
XLi3h is the reason Mike won the first ever MTV EMA Award in the “Best Greek Act” category – coinciding with MTV’s regional launch in Greece – and was nominated in MTV Europe’s Favourite Act category in 2008. XLi3h has been voted as one of the 30 Best Greek Hip-Hop Albums of all time by Sonik magazine (2013).
Official Music Videos from XLi3h
Watch ‘Fevgo’ by Stereo Mike, sampling Haris Alexiou’s original (dir. Richard Penna, 2008)
Watch ‘Anagnorisi’ by Stereo Mike, featuring the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, and MCs Lagnis & Moixos24 (dir. Dimitris Sylvestros, 2008)
Watch ‘Perea Mou’ by Stereo Mike, with Greek DMC Champion Sparky-T on the scratches (dir. Dimitris Sylvestros, 2009)