Killer Mike - "Michael"

Atlanta's King gets personal

This man is an icon. He’s brilliant, and it’s readily obvious anytime you listen to him speak. He’s an active philanthropist, giving back to the people of Atlanta every chance he gets; promoting pro-black movements and advocating for the advancement of black Americans; speaking out against prejudice and systemic racism. And the dude lived it, growing up in Atlanta, Georgia in the late 80s and early 90s.

“Michael” delves hard into a lot of that lived experience. It is an autobiographical album first. I’m always a fan of Mike’s pointed, hardline social commentary, but it’s only found in passing on this album on a handful of tracks, such as “Talk’n That Shit!” and “Run”. Still, with the experiences of a young black man growing up in the American South just decades after the Civil Rights Act passed, there’s plenty of social commentary to be found within the autobiography.

In a way, this is reminiscent of last year’s “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” from Kendrick Lamar and this year’s “Ben” from Macklemore. The album includes stories of mistakes that Mike has made in his life. Fuck-ups he’s learned from, people he misses, etc. And that’s where the album is at its best, when he delves into specific instances, as in “Slummer” and “Something For Junkies” (and even the latter is a more recent instance). Much of the album is more general, though (“Exit 9” is basically how MLK Drive is like memory lane for him; “Scientists & Engineers” is about the stupid shit he did as a kid, generally, with the “I’ma live forever” attitude that kids have, with his ultimate success blended in).

It is to the credit to all three artists mentioned in the previous paragraph that all three albums feel incredibly distinct. They all approached similar projects in vastly different ways. Mike’s music, though, is definitely the one the includes the least emphasis on melody or musicality. Mike’s a rapper, and that’s all he does. His guest vocalists and backing vocalists sing, but he doesn’t.

Also, there’s a huge amount of features here. Only one track doesn’t include a feature credit. And the album opener includes CeeLo Green, which, frankly, sets a less-than-great tone at the outset. (This outlet blacklists CeeLo Green).

Stylistically, this is great hip hop. Rhythm, flow, delivery - whatever you want to call it, Mike is at the top of his game.

The overall album composition, within the album’s concept, feels like it’s not perfectly honed.

This is definitely an unmissable hip hop album for 2023.

Rating: Teal Blue