Today In Hip Hop History: Killer Mike Dropped His Fifth LP ‘R.A.P. Music’ 12 Years Ago
On this date in 2012, Grammy Award-winning rapper Big Mike dropped his fifth full-length studio album titled R.A.P. Music, which stands for “Rebellious African People’s Music” on the Williams Street Records imprint and produced exclusively by DJ EL-P. With this being the first project of El-P and Mike together, this album spawned the formation of the duo Run The Jewels.
The 12-track project was very politically driven, with political and socio-economic subject matter that made Mike be recognized as a conscious emcee, which casually opened up the doors for his political involvement in his home state of Georgia. Songs like “Reagan” was a jab at the former POTUS, who was highly suspected of being involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, which brought large amounts of cocaine into the United States and introduced “crack” to the inner cities. Back during the promotion of R.A.P. Music in 2012 on NPR, Mike stated about Ronald Reagan, “Ronald Reagan was an actor. He was a pitchman at first, and so people naturally trust him. He understood how to weave magic when he was speaking, and that’s what we as entertainers do. So when Jay-Z tells you to buy some Reeboks, it means more. Ronald Reagan at one point was the biggest pitchman in the world. I think that Reagan was used by a political party, by people who had vested means, to push their own agendas.”
The album was critically acclaimed, receiving multiple accolades from music and cultural media publications such as Complex, Rolling Stone and Time Magazine.
Guest appearances on the album include UGK’s Bun B, fellow ATLien T.I., Emily Panic and the album’s producer El-P, who appeared on “Butane Champion’s Anthem”.
Salute to Mr. Render, El-P and all of the contributors to this important piece of Hip Hop history!
The post Today In Hip Hop History: Killer Mike Dropped His Fifth LP ‘R.A.P. Music’ 12 Years Ago first appeared on The Source.
The post Today In Hip Hop History: Killer Mike Dropped His Fifth LP ‘R.A.P. Music’ 12 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.
