Jayson Andrew "Mick" Jenkins (born April 16, 1991) is an American rapper based in Chicago and signed to Cinematic Music Group.

Mick Jenkins attended Hirsch Metropolitan High, where he began participating in mock trials for the school's law academy in 2008.

Jenkins ended his law studies in 2009, when he became an intern at Sir & Madame, a clothing store, and briefly became an aspiring fashion mogul.

[4] These consecutive mixtapes included involvement from several record producers, such as After the Smoke, Swisha House, Chris Calor, Quincy Banks, Chuck Inglish, Vanilla, and Dijon, among others.

[citation needed] This resulted in attention from local recording artist, and a leader of Chicago's Pivot Gang collective, Saba.

The two then collaborated on a track, called Heaux, which was meant for a Mick Jenkins project, but ended up featuring on Saba's mixtape GETCOMFORTable (2012).

Free Nationals is "a hip hop group that promotes creative thought without accepting narrow views imposed by the powers that be".

[9] In July 2014, Jenkins received significant attention after the release of his single and a visual of Martyrs, which juxtaposed insight on harsh societal truths with a catchy hook.

The thought-provoking single held messages on gun violence, the fight between his conscience and new-found success, and his turbulent childhood in Chicago.

[10][11] Martyrs led prominent figures in the hip-hop community such as Timbaland, to reach out and praise Jenkins for his musical talent and intricate lyricism.

On August 25, 2016, Jenkins released his second single of the album, called "Drowning", which features an instrumental performed by Toronto-based jazz quartet BADBADNOTGOOD.

[24] Additionally later in the year on September 18, Jenkins released the single "Percy" featuring fellow Chicago-based rapper Qari produced by greenSLLIME, also from Chicago.

[30] On July 7, 2023, Jenkins announced his fourth album The Patience, releasing the JID-assisted lead single "Smoke Break-Dance" on the same day.

The EP would see Jenkins rap over "type beats" that he found on YouTube, and he explained the process behind the release, noting the underpayments that artists get from music streaming platforms.