A few weeks ago, Killer Mike stepped up to the mic on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. He was joined by acclaimed jazz pianist Robert Glasper and R&B singer Eryn Allen Kane for a stripped-down rendition of “Motherless,” a deeply visceral meditation on the grief of losing his mother and grandmother. “Is this a blessing or a curse or just some other shit?” he choked through tears streaming down his face. “Either way, I’m fucking numb because I’m still motherless.”
It’s this kind of naked vulnerability that charges ‘Michael’, the Atlanta rapper’s first solo effort in 11 years. Over the course of his decades-long career, Mike has evolved from a scene-stealer on OutKast projects to a bona fide hip-hop foreman, infusing his music with a nimble balance of personal and political perspective. “Michael,” released in June, plays like an exposed nerve, going deeper than Mike has on previous records and serving as a testimonial of sorts, with Mike plumbing stories of growing up in Collier Heights with dexterity and clairvoyance.
“I’m from an all-black enclave in Atlanta, so I write it from the African-American experience,” Mike tells Variety. “But it’s very much an American experience. It is as American as Langston Hughes or Norman Rockwell or a Zora Neale Hurston novel. It is very much rooted in the working class. And in the Deep South, gospel and blues play a big part.
The album is framed by the sounds of southern gospel, full of church organs and choirs. (In the video for “Yes! Mike actualises it by standing at a pulpit and delivering a sermon.) To capture this aesthetic, he turned to No ID, the legendary producer who got his start working with Common in Chicago and has gone on to helm projects and songs for Jay-Z, Kanye West and John Mayer. Mike and No ID, who goes by the name Dion, first collaborated on 2008’s God in the Building, a jubilant reflection on how faith can fuel determination, and again two years later on Ready Set Go, featuring T.I.
Together, they made a record that explored the hardships of growing up in the South, a stark departure from the bombastic raps of Run the Jewels, Mike’s duo with El-P that’s been his main focus for the past decade. In their first joint interview, Mike and No ID spoke to Variety about how they approached the making of Michael and why telling your truth on a record can be the highest form of art.
