Killer Mike Likens Solo Album ‘Michael’ to His Superhero Origin Story

During the summer, Killer Mike released his first solo album in over a decade. Michael reflected on his Southern, working-class religious upbringing. More importantly, it was a collection of personal songs from the Atlanta-based rapper.

In a recent interview with Variety, Killer Mike discussed how Michael differs from his output with Run the Jewels and what made it special. For the last decade, Killer Mike has focused his efforts on his group Run the Jewels. He and El-P use their music to discuss societal issues. In his mind, the man in that group is a superhero, shrouded in fantasy with glimpses of reality.

“Run the Jewels is the Uncanny X-Men,” he said. “It is a plethora of not just me and [El-P]. You got Zack de la Rocha, Gangsta Boo, Mavis Staples, Josh Homme pops up. You never know.” Those songs, he said, are “very super-hero based. There’s a level of fantasy about it, which is just fun as fuck.” Michael, on the other hand, contains, “an origin story to the superhero Killer Mike.”

More importantly, the music on Killer Mike’s solo album brings people together. “When you look at a Michael album, which is a gospel-based album, a Southern Black experience working-class album,” he explained. When touring, he said the audience was full of Black and white working-class people.

Despite racial differences, they were all able to relate to one another. They found common ground in their shared class experiences and the music. “The third show in Charlotte, a white guy came up to me and said, ‘I grew up dirt poor in Appalachia and I relate to every word you said,’” he recalled.

“It’s art I needed to make before I died,” he said of his solo album. “I’m glad I got to the business of doing it.”

Then, the conversation turned to “Motherless,” arguably the most personal and vulnerable track on the album. Tracks like that one, Killer Mike said, express longing and pain. “Ultimately, what it does is allow people to express it and not feel alone and allow them to be spoken for.” Additionally, he said, songs like that allow people to look back on the good times and experience joy.

Killer Mike will be returning to the studio starting December 1. At the time of the interview, he was unsure of what would come of the sessions. However, he’s looking forward to getting back to it.

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