Longtime restaurateur and nightlife fixture Michael Brown, known in nearly every corner of Detroit from downtown to Dexter Ave. as “Mike B.,” was killed in a shooting that injured two others early Saturday morning outside a bar on the city’s west side, prompting a widespread outpour of shock and sympathy from across the region.
The Detroit Police Department is asking residents to come forward with any information about the shooting outside the Suite 100 cocktail bar, located on Schaefer Highway near Puritan Avenue. As of publication, no arrests have been made.
Brown’s death comes in the wake of the sudden passing of popular jeweler Darrel “D. Hasty” Hasty, whose cause of death is still unknown but was confirmed by coworkers in videos posted to social media Saturday morning. Both men earned loyal followings as influencers in their respective industries, and both traded in accessible Detroit luxury while remaining accessible to the community themselves. The 33-year-old Hasty held court at Hutch’s Jewelry in Oak Park, while Brown was the proprietor of Sloppy Chops and Sloppy Crab, both in the city.
For 52-year-old Brown, however, his death comes just as his decades-long career in local hospitality and entertainment was reaching higher peaks. After taking a familiar Detroit path from party promoter to club owner, by all accounts Brown had bigger plans in the works after moving into restaurants – namely expanding his Sloppy brand at a time when a wave of new Black-owned establishments were starting to find their footing in revitalized neighborhoods citywide.
“He created more than a restaurant – he built opportunity, community, and a gathering place where people from all walks of life could come together,” wrote DJ Motorcity, one of the city’s most celebrated jockeys, on Facebook. “He showed what leadership looks like in action: Investing in his dreams, employing our people, and contributing to the culture and economy of this city.”
Sloppy Crab, now known as the Crab Sports Bar, opened in 2021 on East Jefferson Avenue across from the Renaissance Center. Detroiters have always loved a seafood restaurant, ranging up and down the price range from Joe Muer to Dot & Etta’s, but blending the nightclub experience that Brown honed for years – occasional cover charges to be part of the in crowd, cocktails with heavy pours, celebrities popping in from time to time – with elaborate crustacean creations made Sloppy Crab one of downtown’s most active scenes for a time, putting it in the ranks of Floods Bar & Grille and Sweetwater Tavern.
Before Sloppy Crab, there was Sloppy Chops that opened in 2020 on Six Mile right off the Lodge (West McNichols Road a few blocks from M-10 for our purist readers), a top-dollar steakhouse with ribeye and tomahawk cuts on the menu, but quickly became known for its $2 lamb chop specials – another delicacy beloved by Detroiters that, according to lore, is so popular that it’s one of the more frequent items to come through the grocery terminal near the Ambassador Bridge.
Both restaurants arrived during ongoing conversations in the city as Detroiters saw new developments cropping up everywhere but couldn’t always determine which ones were for who. For Sloppy Crab, opening within spitting distance of the RenCen answered the question of “where are the Black people downtown,” while Sloppy Chops showed that restaurants like the ones downtown could thrive in the neighborhoods.
“The fact that we are Black men — my partners, Chef Al [Maxley] and I — competing against some of the biggest seafood and steak houses means something. It pushes us to work harder,” Brown said in a 2022 Yahoo profile.
For Brown, it was a culmination of a profile built in bringing Detroiters together in celebratory environments where they could be seen and feel seen.
“#blackwallstreet was all we talked about. We lost a real one,” noted comedian and former WJLB personality Foolish.
After long stints of producing and promoting hip-hop artists and throwing events, Brown came into operating the former Club Status on Eight Mile and Telegraph as well as its previous iteration as Dynasty Lounge throughout the late aughts and into the 2010s. As a manager, former employees and budding promoters noted his willingness to take a chance on people just starting out in the nightlife business.
“I was lost on how to get some money when I left the streets alone. You allowed me to throw parties at Status and showed me legal money to spend the same,” wrote Facebook user Heavyy Pape.
That same sentiment came from artists who remembered Brown’s eye for talent and boosted them at weekly hip-hop showcases, making both establishments – and Brown himself – integral to the city’s underground rap scene.
“Us hip-hop heads was there for Murda the Mic night faithfully every week,” said Jay Morris, an artist and paint design entrepreneur. “Some of the bonds I created there I still have to this day and that was well over 20 years ago.”
Brown seemingly had a finger in all areas of Detroit entertainment for the past two decades; more than 2,000 Instagram posts blasted to more than 12,000 followers – no small feat for a Detroit personality not in media, sports or hair – is evidence of such.
Walking alongside the Southfield Lathrup High School graduate were several longtime friends, devoted relatives, and perhaps most notably his five children – baby faces at one point in his feed, prom sendoffs and high school graduations on the grid years later. And if it seemed like Brown had love for everybody, he did – far beyond his own blood.
“Why would anyone kill Mike B? This man literally hosted my mom’s memorial service for free for my family, out of the love and kindness of his heart,” Maya Jones, a local nail technician and fashion designer, wrote on Facebook.
The love was reciprocal. Dotted throughout Brown’s social media are photos with fellow entrepreneurs (“Detroit is full of bosses,” he writes in one caption), reels of patrons talking about how much fun they’re having at one of their establishments – and one post in particular from 2020 that, in a dedication to recently deceased friend, is more poignant now.
“Life is short and time is something we can’t get back,” Brown wrote. “Love your family and friends now!! Even when you’re ‘busy’ make time to check in your family and friends!!!”
