'It's who I am': Sudbury rapper draws from life in Copper Cliff, and working underground for new album

Mickey O'Brien says his new album, My Drift, draws on his experiences as a third generation miner who was born and raised in Copper Cliff.

But the album is not about mining. Instead, he draws on some deep personal issues, like the death of loved ones and his own addictions, to create the music.

"I made a vow and promise to myself that I would make the record I always wanted to make," he told CBC's Morning North.

"I process things emotionally and try to turn my negative thoughts into a positive thing," he said.

While making the album, O'Brien was also actively helping book hip-hop artists for concerts in Sudbury.

"Me and my homie Max Silvertongue [director of Northern Lights Festival Boreal] came up with the concept to book shows so we could create more of a hip hop community in the city," he said.

"It's called Cage Call Underground community hip hop and I really just started booking people I wanted to work with."

O'Brien began working with Juno Nominated artist Fresh Kills, which was an immediate inspiration for O'Brien. He then took the lessons learned with Fresh Kills to Toronto, where he spends his off-hours from the mine.

• Listen to Mickey O'Brien's single My Drift by clicking here

But it wasn't a simple journey from underground mining to the recording studio. Getting respect in Canada's hip-hop scene wasn't easy, he said. He compared it to "driving a drift" through the scene before others noticed.

"I had a show in Toronto. There's some bloggers there. There was some emcees that I really respect, like Ultra Magnus, and Mind Bender Supreme who are really like kings of the scene in Toronto...Mind Bender is a legend, straight up, and [they were] just talking about me, giving me my props."

But the success won't take him away from the work he also loves, O'Brien said. You will still be able to find him underground at North Mine.

"I feel like, you know they say, you love what you do you never work a day in your life," he said. "So I love it...it's what makes me me."