It’s more than a decade since Killer Mike, one half of rap titans Run The Jewels, released his last solo record. This summer, though, he went it alone once more with ‘Michael’, a staggering magnum opus on which he tackles race, family, masculinity and more against a booming, gospel-inspired sonic backdrop that pays tribute to his hometown of Atlanta. Despite the enormity of those themes, it’s also a very personal album – an introduction to the life of Michael Render, with all the pain, pleasure, failure and success that’s involved.
As Mike touched down in London town for two intimate, gospel choir-backed shows, he chatted to NME about the responses he’s had to the record, why he was so open about his desire for it to be Grammy nominated (by the time you’re reading this, we’ll know if he got his wish) and what’s next for Run the Jewels.
Photo Credit: Jonathan Mannion
Why was 2023 the right year for ‘Michael’?
“I realized this is 20 years in the game and people have met the persona of Michael – they’ve met Killer Mike, who was named in a rap battle at 16 and is the product of a nine-year-old’s daydream of being an MC… They’ve known me as one half of one of the greatest rap groups ever, Run the Jewels, but they hadn’t met Michael.
“With Covid happening and with me getting incredibly sick for two weeks before they even named it Covid and seeing people leave too soon, I thought: ‘Man, what a shame it’d be for me to die and people not get introduced to me. So while I’m here, let me give opportunity for people to know fully who I am.’”
How have people you’ve met responded to the album?
“There is no place that I go that working-class men of all races, creeds, colours and ethnicity – and the women who love them – [don’t recognize me] and this record doesn’t get acknowledged… It speaks to people [and] a commonality amongst a worker-class, even though it’s race-specific because I’m talking about me as this little Black boy growing up in his Black enclave in Atlanta.
“In [America] I’m very much a minority, but within my city, I’m not a minority. I don’t come from the same story that you hear a lot of rappers or hip-hoppers came from, where they felt second-class, they felt put aside, they felt not seen. I felt seen. I never felt second-class. And if I was critiqued or criticised, it was usually by someone who looked like me and wanted me to do better. So it gave me an opportunity to present a different narrative of a Black man.”
There’s a real sense of religiosity in your live shows, and your onstage persona is almost that of a preacher…
“God’s in the building! My grandmother would say to me – and I’m glad I’m wearing shades; sometimes I’ll tear up when I think about it – ‘You can’t keep running from the Lord.’ I remember being a young boy and people would tell my grandmother: ‘He’s anointed.’ In a Pentecostal tradition, that means that God has shown favour on you and you have a mission or purpose. I ran for years from my purpose. Man, I was having fun, I was [doing]… all the same shit I do now! [Laughs.] But I didn’t accept my purpose. And now that I’ve accepted my purpose, I’ve realised that God doesn’t want me in a church, dressed up every Sunday telling people that they’re going to go to Hell. God wants me the same place he wanted Jesus: in the streets, ministering to people.
“I’m letting people know: ‘In spite of addiction, your circumstance [or] what others may say about you, you’re loved and you are to be revered. You are just as important as any creation or creature God has made.’ So in a lot of ways, I have to accept the fact that I am a preacher. And I’ve never wanted to accept that because, you know, the other shit is so fun [laughs]. But what I’ve learned is that God doesn’t want me to be anything other than Michael.”
Photo Credit: Jonathan Mannion
Whether you’re talking about teenage pregnancy, abortion or the loss of your mother, you put some pretty visceral stuff out into the world with ‘Michael’. Did you have any reticence about doing so?
“I’ve been wanting to do it for so long, it was almost therapeutic. I started seeing a therapist, too – a Black woman who really understands my conflicts, concerns and cares and who helped me get into a place where I was comfortable just telling it all. I’ve always [shown] people close to me that [I’m] a sinner and a saint, but this was the first time I said, ‘Well, this is who he is’ – in full. And I was nervous about how people would take it, but what I found out is that more people have those halos and horns and were finally glad to hear someone say: ‘I’m both.’ And I don’t have to do it from an ideological standpoint, pick a side and point at the other side and say, ‘You’re wrong.’”
You’ve said this album is the first in a trilogy…
“Yes! The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.’
We hope we won’t have to wait another 10 years!
“No, I’m not gonna wait 10 years – I’ll be back to work in about 60 days. I want to march into the Grammys and march out with a trophy or two. We’ll see how that goes. But no matter what happens, I’ll be back to work before the end of the year.”
Photo Credit: Jonathan Mannion
You’ve been very open about the fact that you would like to win a Grammy for this record, and it was cool that you made yourself vulnerable in that way
“I’m not gonna lie and act like I don’t want it, or I’m above it and just do it for the art. I would like for ‘Michael’ to be recognised. Van Gogh was so amazing, but he died unrecognized. I don’t want to die unrecognized… I heard Muhammad Ali talk about being humble. He said, ‘I’ve tried to be humble. Y’all didn’t listen to me when I drove a little car, stayed in a little house. When I started talking braggadociously and wearing diamonds and things, that’s when people listened!’ You have to recognise that. For as humble in spirit as I am, people really look at me and listen a lot better when I got eight pounds of gold on my neck. Because they know I’m not fucking playin’!”
“I would like an opportunity to have those trophies. I’ll never forget what Lauryn made Black girls and girls across the board feel with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. And seeing her with that armful of Grammys – whether she cares about them anymore or not – meant everything to us as fans because a true MC got validated. I didn’t a fuck if she was a man or a woman. I was just like: ‘That’s us!’ The people that have supported me for 20 years and Run the Jewels in the last 10 years… I would like to give them that feeling.”
How did it feel to look back on 10 years of Run the Jewels with your recent anniversary shows in the US?
“Man, I did a lot of praying and thanking God, because while you’re in the middle of the gunfight, you don’t think about all the bullets that missed you. [Laughs.] We built a bond with the community of people we call the Jewel Runners. And so I’m just thankful. I’m just full of gratitude.”
Photo credit: shotbyseck
You mentioned last year that you’d been working on some new RTJ material…
“At the hotel [where] I stay in Los Angeles, there’s a studio, so [producer El-P, the other half of Run the Jewels] brought something through and played it. I just jumped on it. It was dope! But usually El will go off, work on beats for months or whatever [and] come back with a loaded playlist of 10 or 15 records like, ‘Hey, this is what I have – what can we do?’ And then I’ll go in and listen [and] just start rapping on different things. And I’m just waiting on the call. We’ll see, because he’s the producer part, so the heavy lifting in terms of the music is on him. Whenever he feels inspired, I’m here. And until he feels inspired, I gotta rap, so I’ll be back rapping.”
In the meantime, then, what would you like people to take from ‘Michael’?
[Pause.] “I don’t know if I want you to take anything. I want you to keep it with you. I’d like for you to keep the hope that’s in this album with you. I’d like you to keep the trials and triumphs with you, because as you endure your own, I just want you to know you’re not alone. I hope that this generational statement – this art from the heart – pierces your heart and becomes a part of you.”
