The journey of Michael Render aka Killer Mike has been an
interesting and incredible one.
First of all, he had the unbelievable fortune of starting off under the
wings of hip hop legends OutKast.
He made his debut on OutKast’s Stankonia
in 2000 on the track “Snappin’ and Trappin’” and went on to make a memorable
appearance on Dungeon Family’s Even in
Darkness as well as OutKast’s Grammy Award winning single “The Whole
World.” With the increased mainstream
exposure and underground following that he had already fostered, many people,
including Killer Mike, expected big things from his debut album Monster, which was released in 2003 on
OutKast’s Aquemini Records.
However, things did not work as planned. While Monster received critical acclaim and had a radio hit single in
“A.D.D.I.D.A.S.,” the album failed to sell up to everyone’s expectations. It’s funny because the album sold over
$500k, which is a sales figure that a lot of artists would kill for nowadays. With artists like Eminem, Jay-Z, 50
Cent, and Nelly selling at least 2 million albums at the time, an artist selling
only 500K was looked at as a flop.
Let Killer Mike tell it, he failed to recoup any royalties from his
album because the sales were below expectations (he is okay with it,
though). To add insult to injury,
Aquemini Records folded after Monster
was released and after Andre 3000 decided that he did not want to be part of
running the record label. Big Boi
went on to form his own label Purple Ribbon, and he brought Killer Mike with
him. However, Killer Mike’s Ghetto Extraordinaire album was never
released due to multiple delays and was eventually shelved. The frustration in getting his
album out prompted Killer Mike to take matters into his own hands and form his
own imprint, GrindTime, accompanied by the catchy phrase “GRIND TIME RAP GANG,
BANG, BANG, BANG!” Mike’s move
created tension between him and Big Boi and even led to a public feud between
them (fortunately, they later squashed the beef).
Free from the majors, Killer Mike embarked on a solo career
where he controlled his own destiny.
In fact, he adopted the mantra of “firing your boss” and following your
dreams, and he preaches this in many of his interviews and lectures. It is Killer Mike’s insight and
inspirational interviews that increased his appeal and made me pay more
attention to his music. Based on
his work with OutKast, we knew Mike had talent, but we were not aware of his
depth and intelligence until he went out on his own. I am not sure whether he developed these ideas after leaving
Big Boi or had suppressed them while under OutKast’s wing. Either way, the world is better for it
much in same way that the world is better for having Immortal Technique
releasing his own music (like I said in the Tech review, I feel that he
somewhat laid the foundation for Killer Mike to do what he wanted to do with
his career).
