Killer Mike AKA is one of my favorite emcees not just out of the south but all around. This new single and the story behind it is one of the reasons that i continue to follow Killer and his Grind Time Rap Gang movement. Those familiar with El P and the movement that he was a big part of as a part of the group Company Flow will also find it rather surprising that he is doing production work with one of Atlanta's finest emcees. They would seem like an unlikely pairing: El-P the New York underground pioneer and major part of the Rawkus Records roster that included Reflection Eternal, Black Star liking up with Killer Mike the Atlanta born emcee whos raps are as much pan-african as they are trap rap. Add to that the fact that he has Texas O.G. Bun B and the King of the South T.I and you have an interesting mix here. This single is a big enuff surprise but it doesnt stop there, El-P and Killer are working on a full length album called R.A.P Music (Rebellious Afrikan People Music). If this single is any indication of what the album that they are working on will sound like this is another one that will get major play in my ride.
Here Killer gives us a brief break down of the story behind the reaction hes getting from the song and him working with El-P
"When I first dropped Monster nine years ago, I never wanted “A.D.I.D.A.S.” to be my second single. The singles off Monster were, “Akshon” and then, “A.D.I.D.A.S.” The singles were supposed to be “Scared Straight” and “Re-Akshon” which featured a then unknown Killer Mike and T.I. and it was anchored by a veteran, Bun B. For me, I always felt like the music that kept me eating was the music I made off pure instinct, back then. With “Re-Akshon,” I toured that record for three years. I always wanted a chance to present my partner Tip and our OG Bun again. That's a dream record for me. Going in with El[-P], I didn't really want a lot of features but I wanted to get an opportunity to do what I felt went unfinished. And that's to get a single with Tip and Bun and show the world that, Down South, we go in. I feel like I have totally flipped the script and made a classic from another angle. I've never just dropped a solo album the year after another solo project, but I think it's a hell of a one two punch. Coming off of PL3DGE, which people are still talking about and we are still making videos for, going right into R.A.P. Music seems like big sh#t to me."
ON WORKING WITH EL-P OF COMPANY FLOW FAME
"If you look at Ice Cube with The Bomb Squad, if you look at Cypress Hill and Muggs and Gang Starr and Premier, I wanted that one producer experience. When me and El-P got in, he came to Atlanta for like a week. We did four or five joints. And by the time he left, I was convinced that not only did I want to do the record in full, but I wanted to do the record only with him. Our chemistry just clicked so instantly I was like, Yo, we got to do it. So, last summer, I went up to Brooklyn. I stayed on the Lower East Side for four or five weeks and we knocked out a whole album. That's the way it used to get made. That's the way I feel like albums should and could get" made.
Killer Mike on staying relevant
People who only listen to commercial rap, God bless them, they wonder, “How is this guy still relevant?” I've had people say,”D*mn, I forgot you were on The Blueprint 2 and you were on this and that.” All that was possible because I never stopped feeding the underground. Before I had a record deal with OutKast, I was selling CDs in the streets. And I never stopped that.
Listen and Download the "Big Beast" single
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