KILLER INSTINCT - The Windish Agency

Past the convenience store and the coin laundry and the grocery in a stripmall on
the south side of Atlanta, you’ll find the barbershop that the rapper Killer Mike (born
Michael Render) opened in the fall of 2011—and on this cool February day you’ll also
find him reclining in a folding chair out front. A few barbers work the chairs inside,
lining up cuts and fixing fades next to a floor-to-ceiling mural of Martin Luther King Jr.
Mike’s grandmother stopped by the shop earlier in the day, and he proudly introduced
her to everyone: “I’d like you meet my grandma, Ms. Bettie.”
The former OutKast protégé has been
sharing tracks with André 3000 and Big
Boi for a decade now, but this isn’t the
surreal, candy-coated façade of Stankonia
here. After years spent just slightly in the
background, delivering blistering verses on
OutKast’s Grammy-winning “The Whole
World” and Big Boi’s “Kryptonite” without
ever having his own moment in the spotlight,
Mike has finally made a career-defining
album, R.A.P. Music.
Mike’s ascent took time partly because
people didn’t know how to classify him.
In a rap landscape that’s sharply divided
between gangsta rappers and conscious
lyricists, Mike has refused to pick a side.
He’ll gladly spit “Gorillas wit banana clips
goin’ monkey in the back/ They’ll put yo ass
in that black box, laid out flat” on a hood
banger with Gucci Mane. But on another,
“That’s Life,” you can find him name checking
Cornel West and Michael Eric Dyson before
killer
instinct
boasting, “If you really ’bout intelligence, you
really know I’m right/ If you lookin’ for some
leadership, look for Killer Mike.” That sort
of versatility poses a problem for marketing
teams who want to fit artists into easy boxes,
but it’s finally defining Mike as one of the
most unique lyricists working today.
Mike’s transformation began to take
shape with his 2011 album, PL3DGE, which
showcased his stylistic range. “I think people
finally got it,” says Mike, who’s sporting a
bright yellow sweater that stands out on the
drab street corner. “You can be an activist
and not be so married to an ideal you’re a
zealot—the same guy on ‘That’s Life’ can go
hang out and party with Gucci Mane. I want
freedom for people because I want you to
be free to do drugs if you want to because
that’s your choice. The morality arguments
that come with that don’t matter to me.”
If PL3DGE was the album that finally
let listeners understand Killer Mike, R.A.P.
Music is the reason to celebrate him.
Produced entirely by El-P in New York City,
the record documents two artists pushing
the limits of their creativity into something
recognizably, undeniably, new. El-P draws
on gritty glory days of New York beats, but
marries them with a forward-looking,
Southern swagger. On top of that, Mike
is simply ferocious, letting his lyricism
run wild.
“This is the album that kids who grew
up on golden-era hip-hop are supposed to
be making. This is not a throwback to 36
Chambers—it’s the progression of it,” Mike
says. Tracks like the banging “Go!,” which
highlights Mike’s rapid-fire flow, make good
on that promise, somehow looking back at
rap’s history and into its future at the same
time. What might have sounded like contradictions earlier—political diatribes on party
anthems, golden era lyricism coupled with
a boastful delivery—are blended into an
eloquent hybrid.
We’re about to finish things up when a
young fan interrupts Mike and asks him to
pose for a quick camera-phone shot. Mike
breaks into a big smile for the picture and
then turns back to the conversation at hand
for one final declaration: “In R.A.P. Music,
there’s everything that rap put in me.”
former OutKast protégé
Killer Mike finally claims
his place in the spotlight
with R.A.P. Music . By Wyatt
Williams. photographed by
chris shonting
nylonguysmag.com
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