Killer Mike is going to be your favorite non-political rapper this year. I’m sorry, just accept that fact and move on with your summer because it’s going to be infinitely more enjoyable by not fighting it. I’d like to point out that that previous statement could not have been made without the help of someone behind Killer Mike. That man would be producer El-P (who also is releasing his own solo album Cancer for Cure next week on the 22nd of May).
Killer Mike’s latest offering, R.A.P. Music (an acronym for “Rebel African People Music”), is every bit of the rebellious sound, while somehow sounding like some of the most fun hip-hop you’re likely to come across all year. Notice that I inserted the word “hip-hop” because I mean it. I’m not talking about LMFAO “hip-hop” or other sorry excuses for the genre. I’m talking real hip-hop. Killer Mike has been around for over a decade, but for some reason he hasn’t become an A-list rapper. I feel like R.A.P. Music is about to change this. Of course, no small amount of credit is due to Brooklyn’s gifted rapper-producer El-P, but more on that later.
Killer Mike has a solid boom-bap behind him on every single track (and I do mean every single one) which is an incentive to go hard, but he finds his own groove on each track to tear the walls down himself. “Big Beast” bangs with some of the fiercest thump you’re likely have the privilege of hearing, while Bun B, T.I., and Trouble help Killer Mike to put your jaw on the ground. Truth be told, I’ve never been a T.I. fan, always feeling he was overrated and simply a decent mainstream rapper who got more credit simply because most mainstream rap sucks. Well, this is a guest verse almost guaranteed to blow you away. Hats are off to everyone on this opening banger.
So what? The first track is almost the obligatory banger, right? I’d normally agree with you, but the fact is that El-P has crafted some of the most hook-ridden beats of his career and for a different artist no less. The second track, “Untitled,” may be one of the most exhilarating and lyrically complex tracks of Killer Mike’s career. The beat sounds like something off of El’s I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, but Mike soon makes you realize that this is his song and he’s here to own. Discussing his love of women, it’s a refreshing track that goes against the grain of Top 40 hip-hop and its infatuation with the objectification of women. Here, Mike discusses his love of his wife while at the same time name-dropping Andre 3000 and the mafia.
Surprisingly, the one track that stands out like a sore thumb (in a good way) is “Reagan.” Utilizing soundbites from a speech from President Reagan, Killer Mike spits over a tension-filled beat about the lies of the American government. It may sound out of date, but if we frame it in the context of 2012, most of the themes are as prevalent today as they ever were. “Reagan was an actor/Not at all a factor/Just an employee of the country’s real masters/Just like the Bushs, Clintons, and Obamas/ just another talking head telling lies on a teleprompter,” sounds like an accusation that is unbiased and flat-out real.
Despite the social and political commentary, the one banger that’s sure to lay you on your back is “Butane” featuring El-P. Mid-tempo boom-bap rides for just over three-minutes while Mike and El destroy the verses. “I’m a Grinch with a grin/I’ll s**t on your kids,” El hilariously spits. It’s a line so out of left-field that if you aren’t able to smirk, you need to loosen your trousers.
Over the course of 12 tracks (no skits), it’s too dense to go track-for-track about how wonderful this album is; you’ll just have to take my word for it. The production, while very much a product of El-P, is straightforward without falling into monotony. There is a thunder that sometimes can lack in the intricacies of El’s production, but Mike gets the best of the Brooklyn producer. He doesn’t waste it. Chances are you’re going to be bumping Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music in the car, at the pool party, and in the gym.
