Mike Taylor’s “LOVE.” is a comeback of sorts, but not in the obvious sense. He never disappeared. His catalog already includes the RIAA Gold-certified “Everything Black” with Unlike Pluto, now past 382 million Spotify streams, and his collaboration on Afrojack’s “SummerThing!” put his voice inside a major dance record long before this new chapter began. He has also spent the past several years touring internationally as a DJ, keeping himself close to rooms, crowds, and the physical side of dance music.
Still, “LOVE.” feels like a reset because it puts Taylor’s voice, writing, and city back at the center.
The single is the first look at a forthcoming project due in early 2027, and the video makes the thesis clear before the song even has to explain it. Taylor may be driving through Los Angeles, but the frame keeps pointing east. The cab’s license plate reads LOVE 215. He tells the driver, “My man, take me to Electric Church, 215 Market Street.” The final credit lands with the kind of local specificity you cannot fake: “THIS JAWN IS A TAYLORSMITH PRODUCTION.”
That is the real story of “LOVE.” Taylor is not using Philadelphia as nostalgic decoration. He is showing how a city can travel inside the people who leave it.
The Video Is Shot in LA, But It Speaks Philly
The tension in “LOVE.” starts with geography. The video is set in Los Angeles, the city Taylor moved to 15 years ago with Steven Nicholas Smith, his best friend from Philadelphia. Taylor came west for music. Smith came west for film. Now, “LOVE.” becomes the first official release from their shared production company, TaylorSmith.
The Philly details do a lot of work here. LOVE 215 is not subtle, but it does not need to be. The title itself carries extra force for someone from the City of Brotherly Love, surrounded by that word on statues, signs, murals, and civic iconography. The Electric Church destination adds another layer, connecting Taylor’s current house-music direction to the idea of a room where people come together and move as one.
The Backseat Turns Into a Philly Creative Roll Call
One of the better choices in the video is the backseat cast. Taylor fills the cab with Philly friends and collaborators, including DJ Sugar Shay, actor Nick Marini, and producers Owen Jackson and Miles Comaskey. That turns the ride through LA into something more layered. The car becomes a moving pocket of Philadelphia creative life, carried across the country by people who left but did not sever the connection.
TaylorSmith Makes the Release Feel Bigger Than One Video
“LOVE.” also marks the first official release from TaylorSmith, the production company formed by Taylor and Steven Nicholas Smith. That detail gives the project a second layer because the release is also about ownership. Taylor is not only appearing in the video, but he is also co-directing it with someone who has been part of his life since Philadelphia. The final “THIS JAWN IS A TAYLORSMITH PRODUCTION” credit reads like a joke, a signature, and a mission statement at the same time.
That matters for this stage of Taylor’s career. After years of major collaborations, big streaming numbers, and international DJ work, “LOVE.” points toward a more self-defined chapter. The forthcoming project due in early 2027 now has a clear opening statement: Philly roots, Black house and soul, a long friendship behind the camera, and a lead artist putting his voice back where it belongs.
“LOVE.” Works Because It Refuses to Leave Home Behind
The most compelling part of “LOVE.” is not the career stat line, even though Taylor has plenty of it. The stronger idea is that his next chapter does not start by pretending to be new from scratch. He carries the past with him—the city, the language, the friends, the musical memory, the house-music lineage, the years in LA, the DJ sets, the collaborations, the production company, and the voice. “LOVE.” gathers all of that into a single visual and musical statement without making it feel like a formal autobiography.