Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "KILLER MIKE - MICHAEL"

Episode Date: June 16, 2023

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/AnalyticThe invitation is for Killer Mike’s Midnight Revival, a private first listen of his next album Michael that serves as a “midnight mass” held at The Cathedral in Austin during SXSW on March 15. Inside, the refurnished 1930s church has hand fans on benches for cooling off. A program with a foreword reads: “Killer Mike gets recognized for many things – being an Outkast protégé, a member of powerhouse Run the Jewels, one of Atlanta’s biggest advocates, a Bernie Sanders whisperer, and perhaps most importantly, a voice of reason in an increasingly insane world.”source: Inside the Making of Killer Mike’s ‘Michael’ and His Midnight Revival (yahoo.com)Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Calling all old heads to the front because Killer Mike has released another solo album since his last one in, wait for it, 2012. Now, I don't know if y'all have noticed or not, but it's 2023. So that's a pretty large gap to not release a solo album. Now, what has he been doing, quote unquote, as far as like his life? and who is Killer Mike for those who don't even know technically right now he's more of an activist the way that he wraps he's more of a lyricist and he's formed a group back in the day

in 2013 with LP which they called they titled the group Run the Jewels so if you haven't heard about Run the Jewels that's why Killer Mike stopped dropping solo albums and his last one was in 2012 because he formed a group with LP. Now, has that worked out for him?

I have no idea. But in general, Killer Mike is very, very respected in the hip-hop industry, mainly, not only, but mainly because of his voice and him being vocal and the likes of police brutality and a lot of economic inequality. Simply, his activism has been. put him in the spotlight more than his actual quality of music, if that makes sense. Lyricism, on the other hand, is at an all-time high when it comes to Killamike. I will compare Killamike to your not battle rapper, but sort of in the same lane as his bars,

his double, triple entendres, is more substance than his replay value. His replay value is not high as a lot of people are not going to be like, turn that killer mic on when they get into the car with the homies. More people are going to be like, hey, turn that killer mic on when they're listening to a speech or to listen to him talking about the latest police brutality or whatever situation that comes from economic inequality. So as far as him being an activist, he's been, it's been more of his strong suit. But he's back again with the album titled Michael.

And it's his first album, solo album, since 2012, like I was saying. And some of Kilhamy's most popular songs was released back in the day. I mean, if you don't count Run the Jewels, then his last track that was like huge was called Reagan, I believe, in 2012 and Don't Die, which was also in 2012. So as you can see, this man is definitely a versatile human being in every sense of the word, as most. rappers don't transition to activism in the way that Killer Mike has. Now, I know a lot of people are like, what do you mean? Rap doesn't have active, don't have positive messages in it. That's a, and one, that's a stretch. But two, Killer Mike is one of those where his voice is different than his rapping ability. The way that he speaks about conscious issues and just overall well-being of certain people

who look like him as far as like the African, the African American community, I think that a lot of people hold him in a higher regard as him being an activist than they do as him as a rapper. And I think that will also reflect in the sales, as I'm not saying this album would be bad or not well received,

but as far as the first week sales, I don't know if he's competing with the likes of the leading hip-hop names in the industry, which is okay, because at this point, I believe with his ability to affect the hip hop industry via his activism or activists or just, I forget how you use that word, but a lot of just political statements that he has, I thought a lot of people will respect that more than when he actually puts out music, which is not a stretch because also when he did put out solo music, I mean solo, not run the jewels,

with solo which was uh in 2012 his last solo album which was r ap music which was rap music it was nominated for best rap album so obviously he knows how to make good music now as far as a replay value just because you're nominated for a grammy doesn't necessarily mean you have replay value but it does mean that you have some sort of quality that the masses have uh have highlighted and have crowned amongst the rest because kill o mike when it comes to little lyricism is on a is top tier. I won't say he's like top five or top 20, but I will say he's up there as far as the best rappers who have ever touched the mic. But as far as Killam Mike and his activism, I don't know if his rapping ability can even come close to that as he's spoken out about a lot

of topics that your favorite rapper won't even come close to addressing. So that's one of the biggest things I want to talk about when it comes to Kill a Mike. It's his ability to use his words outside of rap music to affect the masses. in a way that points out, like I was saying, social, well, no, economic inequality and also police brutality, as that's some of the issues he addresses the most. But if you want to listen to his album, it's out now,

it's titled Michael, has some of your favorite artists on it, like Young Thug, Black, it has Andre 3,000 in Future on the same track. I don't know how he pulled that off. But at the end of the day, The album is out now for you to listen to it. What else? There's some other stuff.

Killer Mike also talked about the inspiration for Michael, saying that it's been half a century of life compressed into 14 tracks. He says each track is purposeful. Talks about the history of his family from Tuskegee, Alabama. He also talked about his grandfather who died in 2003, his grandmother who died in 2012, his mother who passed in 2017. He said he touched on a lot of heavy issues reflecting on what the church taught him. And just Killer Mike's journey in general is probably why a lot of people gravitate towards him

because he's definitely one of those type of journeys where you're wondering how he's still standing and the strength it took for him to still be standing to this day. And I think that would definitely be reflected in the music. Now, as far as the replay value, I'm going to keep saying, I'm going to keep repeating this point. I don't think it's going to be high. But as far as the quality, I do think it will end up being one of the better albums of the year. So click my link to your in my bio. Let me know one of my social medias.

What do you think about Kilomike as an activist versus a rapper? And which one do you like more? And also, if you've listened to the album, Michael, that is out now, all DSPs, what is your favorite track?