Killer Mike says that his verse on JAY-Z’s “Poppin’ Tags” was originally directly after HOV’s, but someone moved it back in the song because he was “rapping his ass off.” He recalled the making of the track during a recent interview with Idea Generation.
“I remember somebody tried to insult me like, ‘The only reason you got a Grammy is you’re on a song with OutKast,” he recalled, in reference to the 2001 song, “The Whole World.” “I said, ‘I had the wickedest verse on that muthafucka.’ ‘Cause what you not gon’ do is not tell me I’m a bad-ass motherfuckin’ rapper. You go listen to ‘Poppin’ Tags.’ I originally was directly behind JAY-Z. Somebody chopped it and pushed my ass down one more. Said, ‘Let’s get Twista in between this.’ ‘Cause I was rapping my ass off.”
ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 21: Michael Render aka Killer Mike of Run The Jewels performs at The Tabernacle on January 21, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by David A. Smith/Getty Images)
Mike then pointed to Black Thought’s “Good Morning,” with himself and Pusha T. “Go listen to ‘Good Morning’ with Pusha T and Black Thought,” he added. “Rapped my ass off, and somebody changed their verse and I ain’t gon’ tell you who. When it come to humility, time we get on that track, that shit is out the door.” Check out Mike’s full comments below.
Mike also discussed working with JAY-Z during a recent appearance on an episode of Math Hoffa’s My Expert Opinion podcast. He recalled the legendary rapper’s reaction to his new album, Michael. “I be tripping out now when I wake up, get up, moving around and see a text from him just out of nowhere,” he said. “Like, ‘Peace God. I see what you did. Just sending some encouragement your way.’ He’s still a very grounded, cool human being. I appreciate all the love and encouragement.” Mike continued: “As I was making the record, we sent it to him early and he sent back some real positive notes. He sent back a great compliment. He was like, ‘It feels like I went to my cousin’s house and watched a movie.’ I was really honored, I think it was about a year ago he sent that comment. And we delivered.”
Killer Mike recently reflected on JAY-Z’s reaction to hearing his latest album, Michael. Mike discussed his relationship with the legendary rapper as well as the praise he had for the new project while appearing on an episode of Math Hoffa’s podcast, My Expert Opinion.
“I be tripping out now when I wake up, get up, moving around and see a text from him just out of nowhere,” he said. “Like, ‘Peace God. I see what you did. Just sending some encouragement your way.’ He’s still a very grounded, cool human being. I appreciate all the love and encouragement.”
NAPA, CALIFORNIA – MAY 26: Killer Mike performs during the 2023 BottleRock Napa Valley festival at Napa Valley Expo on May 26, 2023 in Napa, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
He continued: “As I was making the record, we sent it to him early and he sent back some real positive notes. He sent back a great compliment, he was like, ‘It feels like I went to my cousin’s house and watched a movie.’ I was really honored. I think it was about a year ago he sent that comment. And we delivered.” Mike dropped his self-titled album as his first solo project in 11 years, following 2012’s R.A.P. Music. He worked on the effort with numerous other high-profile artists including Young Thug, André 3000, Future, Currensy, 2 Chainz, and more. Check out Mike’s appearance on My Expert Opinion below.
Killer Mike On Connecting With JAY-Z
Killer Mike has collaborated on music with JAY-Z in the past. Also while speaking with Math Hoffa, Mike detailed how his feature on JAY-Z’s “Poppin Tags” came together. “I was on the tour bus with Outkast and Big [Boi] came and said, ‘Aye, Hov just called. He said he got this feature ‘Poppin Tags.’ I told him, ‘I don’t think Dre really wanna do no features right now.’ He said, ‘No, I want the young boy. Killer Mike!’” He added: “Originally I was right behind Jay and if you hear it, they clipped it. I think they put Twista between us. Because I think I showed the fuck out.”
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For two-plus decades, Killer Mike has existed at the periphery of the mainstream’s perception of Atlanta rap, despite being widely acknowledged by fans within the culture as one of the scene’s most talented members. There was Mike’s association with Outkast, the forebears of Atlanta’s rise to national prominence, and his tag-team duo, Run The Jewels with El-P, opening a whole new market of festival appearances and hipster blogger love.
He was even given one of rap’s ultimate blessings; on Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 To Pimp A Butterfly standout “Hood Politics,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning Comptonite throws Mike a lyrical shout-out while denouncing the hypocritical elitism within the hip-hop community. “Critics want to mention that they miss when hip-hop was rappin’,” he rails. “Motherfucker, if you did, then Killer Mike’d be platinum.”
To hear Mike himself tell it, though, there’s another reason behind the lack of hardware denoting his sales achievements. “My first record deal damaged me,” he told Spin in an interview this year promoting Michael, his first solo album in over a decade. “It made me afraid, it pulled me back. I hadn’t done terribly on the major. I just, you know, I came out the same year as 50 [Cent] selling 10 million f*cking records. I sold, you know, 500,000.”
While going gold with your debut album (2003’s Monster, which features the millennial-era sex-rap favorite “A.D.I.D.A.S.”) is no small accomplishment, Mike became convinced he belonged on the underground circuit, where his rap prowess could lead to all the critical acclaim that pursuing greater sales goals might cost him. So, he became a bit trapped between the two worlds; a charismatic would-be star content to grind it out below the radar where his talents might be better appreciated.
In all of this, he admits, it seems he never quite got around to introducing the audience to Michael Render, the man behind the Killer Mike persona — and maybe that’s why he never connected with audiences the same way that Kendrick Lamar would, despite sharing his fiery resolve and unapologetic outlook toward presenting his unvarnished view of the world around him. And so, Michael, released Friday via Via Loma after Mike spent half-a-million dollars of his own money recording and producing it, attempts to do that, explaining how and why Killer Mike came to be, and what he’s truly capable of when not relegated to a sidekick or partner role.
First of all, Mike’s Dungeon Family DNA runs throughout the project; it opens with an appearance from CeeLo Green in “Down By Law” and flourishes on “Scientists & Engineers” with features from the elusive André 3000 and fellow wayward Dungeon cousin Future. The album also embraces Mike’s more recent forays into the chaotic doom funk of his longtime production partner El-P on “Two Days.” But the prevailing musical thread that ties Michael together is the gospel of his youth.
Beginning with the ferocious “Shed Tears” and continuing through the defiant “Run,” picking up in the maudlin “Motherless” and piercing through the production of the album in its haunting use of organs and clips of passionate sermons from Malcolm X, the influence of the South’s church-steeped culture undergirds Mike’s tearful reflections and assertive remonstrations as he recounts his evolution from nihilistic drug dealer to community leader and unofficial poet laureate of Atlanta.
There are slip-ups, of course. A questionable reference to Brokeback Mountain on “Talk’n That Sh*t” undermines Mike’s coalition rhetoric (hard to form a coalition if you’re still so committed to dehumanizing at least 10 percent of any group of people working toward a supposedly common goal; as a resident of the city with one of the largest LGBTQ populations in the nation, Mike should know better), and occasionally, his real-life actions, however well-intentioned, come off as contradictory of the revolutionary bars he rattles off on nearly every song.
But if you’re going to paint a picture of a person, their flaws are necessarily going to be part and parcel of the completed image. That Mike refuses to shy away from even the most unflattering self-portrayals are a huge reason why he’s got so much support from the artistic community and from critics. He’s showing us just who Michael Render is, even if that’s just something we’ve all always known.
Killer Mike and Andre 3000 have been collaborators and friends for decades. As members of Atlanta’s Dungeon Family musical collective, the two have maintained a musical chemistry that’s hard to come by.
On Michael — Killer Mike’s sixth studio album and his first solo album in 11 years — Andre is featured on a track called “Scientists & Engineers,” which has quickly proven to be a fan favorite. But according to radio personality Charlamagne Tha God, Mike and Andre have several other collaborations in the vault.
Earlier this week, Mike stopped by The Breakfast Club for an interview with Charlamagne, where the host recalled hearing a really special track of theirs at some point in the past, that has since remained unreleased.
“I’m not even joking, this is one of the greatest Hip Hop records, just musical records I’ve ever heard in my life,” said Charlamagne. “It’s phenomenal. I can’t even describe what y’all are doing on this record.”
Mike replied, noting that the pair has an even longer collaboration in the vault — on which, Mike raps for five minutes and Andre raps for seven.
“When you handsome and all the girls like you, you get to rap longer,” explained Mike.
According to Mike, the collaboration may see the light of day as earlier as next year, provided that Michael reaches No. 1.
You can check out the full interview above.
Michael is out now via Loma Vista. Find more information here.
Killer Mike is a beloved member of Run The Jewels, but nobody can question his investment in his solo career. Michael, his first solo album since 2012’s R.A.P. Music, is due next week. Ahead of its release, the Atlanta artist, actor, and activist is the latest cover star for Spin. The accompanying story by Khari Nixon revealed what it cost for Killer Mike to actualize Michael:
“It wasn’t before long that [Cuz] Lightyear had an official job title on the project: A&R. With that job came a salary. Killer Mike paid it out of pocket. By the time they’d brought the project to No ID to transform it from mixtape to album, Mike was over a quarter-million dollars in the hole. As things developed, that number ballooned to over a half-million. This type of bill would normally place an artist in hot water with their label. At the time, Killer Mike was a free agent. He would eventually strike a deal with Loma Vista Records, which has distributed records by Denzel Curry and Action Bronson, to distribute Michael upon release. The advance from that deal would reimburse Mike for the money he’d invested into making the album.”
Killer Mike also recalled that his wife, Shana Render, wasn’t pleased with his financial decisions. “She’s like, ‘Well n****, I’m glad you being reimbursed ’cause I got some issues that you spending half-a-million f*cking dollars on a dream project,” he said.
Killer Mike recently released “Don’t Let The Devil” featuring El-P and “Motherless” featuring Eryn Allen Kane. At last weekend’s 4th Annual Black Music Moguls Brunch in Atlanta, he explained that “Scientists & Engineers” featuring André 3000, Kane, and Future nearly didn’t make the tracklist.
“[André 3000] called, and he was like, ‘Kill, I don’t know about the song, man. We just got a good rap record, man,’” Mike told the crowd. “And then, Cuz is like, ‘You sent ’em the final record?’ I was like, ‘Nah.’ I sent it over with Eryn’s hook and stuff. He hit back with, ‘Yeah, yeah, you got the record. Who is that?!’ So, thank you, Eryn. I really appreciate you for that.”
Beginning in July, Killer Mike will embark on his supporting solo headlining The High & Holy Tour. See all of his upcoming dates here.
Michael is out 6/16 via Loma Vista Recordings. Find more information here.
Killer Mike‘s new album Michael is due next week and one song fans are most excited about is his collaboration with former Outkast member and full-time recluse, Andre 3000. The song is called “Scientists & Engineers” and also features Future — a one-time Dungeon Family disciple, according to Atlanta rap lore — and singer Eryn Allen Kane. However, fans almost didn’t get to hear the track after Andre told Mike he wasn’t feeling it. Fortunately, Kane’s presence on the track convinced him to change his mind when he heard the final version.
Mike recounted the story during this year’s 4th Annual Black Music Moguls Brunch in Atlanta, sharing a video of the anecdote on Instagram. In it, he recalls, “André 3000, he’s in Japan right now as we talk, playing the flute. He called me, he’s like, ‘Kill, I don’t know about the song, man. We just got a good rap record, man.’ And then Cuz [Lightyear] was like, ‘You sent him the final record?’ I’m like, ‘Nah.’ I sent it over with Eryn’s hook and stuff. He hit back with, ‘Yeah, yeah, you got the record. Who is that?!’ So thank you, Eryn, I really appreciate you for that.”
In addition to the aforementioned features, the No ID-produced Michael will also include appearances from Dave Chappelle and Young Thug (on the previously-released “Run“), Mike’s longtime partner-in-rhyme El-P (“Don’t Let The Devil“), Lil Wayne, and more, along with the previous singles “Don’t Let The Devil” and “Motherless.” It’s due June 16 via VLNS/Loma Vista.
Killer Mike has a busy summer ahead of him. In June, he will release Michael, his first solo album in 11 years. The following month, he will kick off his North American solo tour, The High & Holy Tour.
During his upcoming tour, Mike will be joined by the Midnight Revival Choir, who will perform with Mike several songs from various albums, mixtapes, and projects in his catalog.
“[We] will perform songs from my new album MICHAEL, as well as classic hits from [my albums] R.A.P. Music, PLEDGE, and more,” said Mike in an Instagram post.
In September, Mike will be joined by his Run The Jewels bandmate EL-P, as they embark on a special 10th-anniversary tour.
You can see the full list of Killer Mike’s solo tour dates below. Tickets are available for purchase here.
07/10 — Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
07/11 — Charleston, SC @ Music Hall
07/13 — Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
07/14 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
07/15 — Charlotte, NC @ Underground
07/17 — Norfolk, VA @ Norva
07/18 — Washington D.C. @ Lincoln Theatre
07/20 — New York, NYC @ Apollo Theatre
07/21 — Philadelphia, PA @ Lincoln Music Hall
07/23 — Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
07/24 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
07/27 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox
07/28 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
07/29 — San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
07/31 — Los Angeles, CA @ Theatre At Ace Hotel
08/01 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
08/03 — Houston, TX @ House Of Blues
08/04 — Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues
08/05 — New Orleans, LA @ Joy Theater
Today (April 20) is a big one for Killer Mike for two reasons: It’s 4/20 and it’s his birthday. In celebration, the rapper made a big announcement: Michael, his first solo album since 2012’s R.A.P. Music, is set for release on June 16. (The project was previously revealed unofficially.)
He also shared “Don’t Let The Devil,” a single featuring thankugoodsir and Run The Jewels partner El-P. The track sees Mike and El-P swapping verses over a soul loop produced by No I.D., El-P, and Little Shalimar.
Mike said of the song, “My favorite group (US) with my favorite producers! It’s our 10 year anniversary and MICHAEL is an origin story so I wanted to start w/ El.” He also said of the album, “RTJ is the X-Men, this is my Logan.”
While it’s been over a decade since his last proper solo album, Mike has of course kept busy with Run The Jewels, one of hip-hop’s most beloved duos. They’ve had four well-received albums, with the latest, RTJ4, arriving in 2020 and becoming their first release to hit the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Killer Mike had a big 2020 with the release of the new Run The Jewels album RTJ4. Now, it looks like he’s stepping out on his own for a new solo record titled Michael.
“Yesterday I got the chance to sit and listen to @killermike new solo project ‘Michael,’” DJ Kenny Perez, a Milwaukee radio host, wrote in an Instagram post on March 16, during SXSW. “Without a doubt, RUN and embrace it when it drops. The project is a journey through his life, and he doesn’t hold back. Collabs with Andre 3000, Lil Wayne, Dave Chappelle, and more.”
Meanwhile, Killer Mike unveiled the song “Talk’n That Sh!t” in October of last year. “The song is self-explanatory,” he said in a statement. “With the video, I wanted to show the freedom and beauty in being able to turn up in spite of all the f*ck-sh*t. That upsets the bourgeoisie even more — in spite of all your criticisms, we’re gonna live free and stay lit.”
He also revealed nearly a year ago that a new Run The Jewels album was in the works. “I say this with a smile, and a wink — me and El-P were in the studio together,” he said. “We may have messed around and started Run the Jewels 5. So we’ll see what happens.”
A new album from Atlanta’s own Killer Mike is finally on the way over a decade after the release of the critically acclaimed, R.A.P Music album. During SXSW in Austin, the Run The Jewels member hosted a listening party for this forthcoming album, Michael. Per DJ Kenny Perez, the new opus from the Dungeon Family graduate includes the previously released “Run” ft. Young Thug, and appearances from hip-hop luminaries, as well as a comedic legend. “The project is journey through his life and he doesn’t hold back. Collabs with Andre 3000, Lil Wayne, Dave Chapelle [sic] and more,” he said.
Recent reports from Perez and Spin Magazine indicate that Michael will be an autobiographical effort that delves into Killer Mike’s past and present. One song that he performed at Spin’s SXSW showcase is reportedly titled “Shed Tears,” which is described as carefully pairing elements of gospel and drum-and-bass. Another record, “High + Holy,” serves as a tribute to his wife, who has stood by his side and pushed him to reach further.
The rapper shared a heartfelt message at his recording party where he expressed his gratitude for his longevity. “My life truly is a testimony for what happens when you show up and keep believing something is calling you to do better for yourself,” Killer Mike. “I don’t know what’s after this life, but I will treasure this night for the rest of my life.” Though it’s been over a decade since his last album, Mike remains a critical voice in hip-hop who continues to use his platform to shed light on his community in Atlanta and America as a whole.
Though fans could anticipate the release of Michael this year, Killer Mike also hinted that he and El-P are back in the studio. During an interview with ConsequenceOf Sound in 2022, he said that Run The Jewels 5 is currently in the works. Though he didn’t reveal a release date, perhaps we could expect to see it on DSPs after the release of Michael. We’ll keep you posted on any more updates surrounding Killer Mike’s next album. In the meanwhile, check out his single “Talk’n That Shit” produced by DJ Paul and TWhy Xclusive.
