“Hey, Mickey!” by Baby Tate

“Hey, Mickey!” is classified as a cover of “Mickey“, i.e. that earworm which Toni Basil put out in 1982. However, it isn’t truly so, as the verses are totally different, and Baby Tate’s work is more or less a rap song.

But similar to the original, the bulk of the lyrics are dedicated to the vocalist’s infatuation with a guy named Mickey. Tate is able to detect that he already has a lady, but that doesn’t prevent her from being smitten nonetheless.

The second verse may be based on a different “Mickey”, this one whom Baby Tate refers to as “Richard”. He also has a girlfriend, a “white girl he beating” (as in having sex with). But that doesn’t negate the vocalist’s feelings for him, largely in part due to the fact that he spends an excessive amount of money on her. However, what does ruffle Tate’s feathers is coming to the realization that Richard is gay. So although she may have perceived him as a potential spouse at one point, now that idea has flown out the window.

It may be that these stories are based on Baby Tate’s real-life experiences. But as presented, this obviously isn’t the type of song to be taken too seriously. Her strategy was basically to use an old pop tune as the basis (i.e. chorus) for an up-to-date, rap-romance track. 

But if we were to take this piece a bit more to heart and presume that “Mickey” and “Richard” may be the same person as is sorta implied, then what it does speak to, on a more critical note, is a romantic malady women are known to deal with in her part in the world, i.e. falling for a guy only to subsequently find out that he’s a homosexual.

Baby Tate

Baby Tate is a hip-hop artist from Atlanta with a discography dating back to 2015. Most of her projects thus far, i.e. her sole studio album and all six of her EPs, have been self-released efforts. However she did sign with Warner Records in 2021, who backed her debut mixtape, 2022’s “Mani/Pedi”. 

That said, “Hey, Mickey!”, which stands as the sophomore single in Baby Tate’s catalog, was officially dropped on 1 January 2017. And this is in fact a cover of “Mickey”, the classic bubblegum-pop song that Toni Basil came out with during the early 1980s.

Credits

This track was produced by an artist simply known as Dead Head.