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Killer Mike - Grind Time
Interview By: John Burnett
 Some rappers are here just to flip words, get money and move on to the next hustle. To them, Hip Hop is a just a bitch they put out on the stroll. Once it dries up, it’s on to the next trick. Few rappers realize the power of their words and how their rhymes could produce a movement—not just an economic shift towards material things but one towards lasting change. Killer Mike does. Killer Mike is proof to the Bill O’Reilly’s and other uber-conservatives that there are articulate, thoughtful visionaries behind these mics and not just the hoodlums they portray. Many thought Killer Mike would be one and done when his follow up to Monster was shelved indefinitely. Fighting amongst the hierarchy at Purple Ribbon left him in a space few rappers return from, shelfdom. After breaking free from the restrictive situation at Purple Ribbon, he took matters into his own hand creating his own imprint, Grind Time Official and releasing I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind.
 NobodySmiling.com : What’s been up with you since you dropped I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind?
Killer Mike : I released I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind. It was critically acclaimed and heralded. But the crescendo of it all was winning the Ozone Award which played on MTV Jams 2. Out of that hard work and perseverance, we moved 35,000 copies out the trunk. Just us working our ass off lead to me getting offers from Koch and SMC. You know I was about to go with Koch but they kind of ballooned up and SMC was just sitting there and they said “hey man we want to make you a priority.” So I partnered with SMC. They’re the distribution wing for my company, Grind Time Official, and um…I’m the first artist on my company. I call myself an emCEO. I actually coined that term in the Ozone [Magazine] with a writer.
I look at it like (pauses and inhales) rappers, if they hold true to the standards of Hip Hop, can be good CEOs because you’re only going to get dope talent and try your best to foster that talent and develop it. So what’s happened since I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind is I’ve grown up a bit. I’ve become more serious about not just my craft but the business and I’m determined to make Grind Time Official the voice of Street Hop out of Atlanta.
NobodySmiling.com : So what are some of the things that an emCEO has to deal with that a rapper does not?
Killer Mike : (Laughs) whoooo…emCEOs definitely cannot be partaking in the groupie situation. Like I heard 50 say two or three years ago, after the shows or whatever he goes to bed. So now, I just take my black ass to bed! I go right to bed and when I wake up, I wake up earlier. I get up around 7:30, 8:30am. The first thing I do is write down my agenda for the, you know the things I want to get accomplished. The biggest difference is since I was an artist on an artist-driven label [Purple Ribbon] and I had to do so much for myself, it forced me to gain a new type of discipline. The discipline it forced me to gain was a “do-for-self” attitude. So being an emCEO, now, I’m more up front and direct and very short about what I want.
I don’t overcomplicate things. As a rapper, I can embellish. I can do as much as I want. I can lay around and be like it’s ready when it’s ready. But now I have to meet deadlines. I have to be prompt and I have to communicate what I need and what I want. That’s it. The biggest decision I had to make as an emCEO was learning not to want to run everything. My job is to make dope music and to attract attention and revenue to the company. It’s also to have people in the company that are in place to do what they do on an expert business level. I have a team of people around me that are dedicated to doing the business stuff right so I get to be the rapper and the big visionary versus trying to handle every detail and rap.
NobodySmiling.com : How soon can we expect Pledge 2 and Pledge 3?
Killer Mike : Pledge 2—damn you know there’s a [Pledge] 3 too (laughs)—is coming April 29th and I would like to get Pledge 3 out this year. Im’ma be honest I want to get them all out. Once you’ve been on hold for so long, you’re like “I’ll do five records a year. I’m James Brown in this bitch, what you want me to do?” So Pledge 2 will definitely be out April 29th and Pledge 3, if all goes well, will be out in the fall.
NobodySmiling.com : Don’t take this the wrong way or anything but I was thinking earlier that Ghetto Extraordinary getting shelved may have been a good thing for you because it lead to you taking matters into your own hands. Do you feel the same way?
Killer Mike : Yea, I do. I call it “do-for-self.” Some things are just God’s plan. When OutKast found me, in particular Big Boi, I was on the streets hustling half the day and slinging music the other half. When they got me it gave me a tremendous opportunity to basically go from a real trap rapper—really in the trap and rapping—to being a guy with a deal and having the opportunity to learn first-hand what the music industry was like. So I guess Ghetto Extraordinary getting shelved was a wake up call for me because what it made me realize was that whether I succeed or fail, it’s all in my hands. It’s an old gospel that says “it ain’t nobody fault but mine. If I die, my soul will be lost. It ain’t nobody fault but mine.”
So I really had to learn to take my career and my life in my own hands. So thank God that it did get shelved. It made me have to work my ass off to get the mixtape out there, to get Pledge 2 out there. It had me and my crew wiping down mixtapes and when it was time, so I could make sure to get it to the fans for free. I feel like anyone who supported me on that first one [Monster] they deserved something and I’m glad they got it for free and I hope they enjoyed it!
NobodySmiling.com : In a recent interview, you said you were from the “real ATL” as opposed to the “new ATL.” What’s the difference?
Killer Mike : I’m from the Atlanta that Dr. Martin Luther King was from. I’m from that Atlanta and that Atlanta is a mesh of the black poor, working and middle class. And it wasn’t just blacks; it was poor working middle class people, period. I’m from inside I-285 (interstate that surrounds Atlanta). I was born in Grady hospital (in inner city Atlanta). I went to Atlanta Public Schools. I attended Morehouse College. I don’t think it gets more Atlanta than that. And when you hear me rapping, you’re not hearing me rap a fantasy.
I hate that trap rap and snap [music] has taken such a hold on the nation because, although it’s good and I’m glad it’s out there, it really doesn’t show people the true beauty of Atlanta. It doesn’t show people all the tiers of Atlanta. Atlanta is one of the only public school systems in the nation where every public school is named for an educator or an emancipator. Atlanta is one of the only places where your pedigree can get traced. My daddy is from Zone 3, born in a house on Summerhill. My momma’s from the 1 [zone 1] right off Bankhead. The 3 and the 1 make the 4 and I’m from Adamsville so if you understood what I just said, you know the real Atlanta (laughs).
NobodySmiling.com : (Laughs)…Between you, Joe Budden and the Clipse you all have been in situations where you’ve had to fight just to release your music. It says a lot about the industry that some of our most talented lyricists have had to struggle to get their music out.
Killer Mike : You just named some of my favorite people. I call myself the Connie Hawkins of this rap shit. You familiar with who Connie Hawkins is?
NobodySmiling.com : Vaguely.
Killer Mike : Connie Hawkins was a premier college player in the late 60s, early 70s and an amazing brother. He was accused of being in a gambling scandal I believe. David Stern was an assistant to the commissioner at the time. And they kept Connie Hawkins out of basketball for a long time. By the time, Connie got a chance to put on a NBA uniform he was like 28 years old. But he was still one of the most dominant players in basketball, ever. A lot of people say what could have been, but I say what is. If you believe me to only be a rapper then you’re sadly mistaken. Rap is what I do, what I love doing and my way of communicating to the downtrodden people to the youth and to my black brothers that’s out there that don’t have other forms of communication. But this is just the first leg in a bigger process. Expect to see public speaking. Expect to see books because I believe Hip Hop and what I call Street Hop are not just a musical genre.
It’s a movement that could affect people’s lives on a bigger scale. When I look at it, it doesn’t bother me that the years of my life have been “wasted” because I didn’t waste them. I took my time, learned my craft and what it showed me is that if you got the intestinal fortitude to do it; anything you want to do can be accomplished. I’m supposed to be back selling dope right now. I’m supposed to be working at…working at one of the jobs next to the people that listen to my music. But I was determined not to fail because I don’t want them to think, if he can’t make it, I can’t make it! We’ve been cheering for Barack (Obama) and he caught two bad things in, I think, Texas and Ohio and everybody had the sad face on. Yet he was still 160 delegates up. So my thing is don’t cry for me. Don’t feel bad for me because I’ll rise and that’s all I want you to do!
NobodySmiling.com : Speaking of ATL, they’ve been doing a lot of gentrification here knocking some of the inner city housing down…
Killer Mike : Let me tell you something. This is what broke my heart. Are you from Atlanta?
NobodySmiling.com : No, I’m from Chicago.
Killer Mike: Chicago ain’t nothing but the capital of Mississippi—one time for Chicago (laughs). I love them brothers. Well do you know anything about Atlanta? You familiar with the “missing and murdered” situation that happened here in the early 80s?
NobodySmiling.com : Somewhat, but tell me more about it.
Killer Mike : Now this is what I mean when I say I’m from the “real Atlanta.” In the early 80s, black boys were being kidnapped, tortured and killed. Wayne Williams was convicted of killing some adult males but the killings never really stopped. On the side of the projects, they had the faces of the victims. They had a boy and a girl with two words that said “care” and “watch.” The city had been so ripped by this serial killer who was killing black children that the attitude of the city had became watch out for one another. Watch out for our children. The cover of Monster was supposed to be that [wall] with me standing in front of it. First they (the Housing Authority) painted over it. That broke my heart.
Then they knocked the projects down. I don’t have a problem with housing projects being knocked down because they’re supposed to be temporary; a temporary solution to a permanent problem. You’re supposed to go there, get yourself together in low income housing and move up to better housing. Unfortunately, along with giving us the projects they gave us a slave mentality that allowed for some to stay there for 30 or 40 years. It’s a good thing that the projects are going. It’s a bad that that people don’t have the proper training and resources they need to make the proper transition into full citizenship. And what I mean by that is being acclimated with good jobs, having the opportunity to feed their family, properly educate their children and have the American dream. I’m really into poor people not remaining poor and dependent on the government.
But I’m really not with displacing families and growing the homeless situation. Because you got to ask yourself what happens to these women and children that are being kicked out of the projects. But if you go the homeless shelter on 11th street you’ll see what’s happening to them. They’re homeless. The street side of me wants to see the projects stand forever. But the realistic black man in me is saying we have to step up. We gotta do better jobs of taking care of our families. Even if you’re not married to that woman, you gotta pay child support so she can keep a real apartment. You have to try and stick it out with the kids as long as possible and we gotta create alternatives to government dependence.
NobodySmiling.com : In a recent interview, you said the cops were active in Hip Hop. What did you mean by that?
Killer Mike : What I mean by that is that I don’t believe what happened to Tip was a total accident. Have you ever (pauses and points to me)…see, you ain’t from the country. My people are from the country (laughs).
NobodySmiling.com : (Laughs)
Killer Mike : My people are from Alabama, East Georgia so when you want to catch a possum you don’t go out with no gun and just hunt it. You set a trap. You might put as many traps as you want in the woods and leave some food in the traps. The possum which is usually a scavenger about gathering its food sees the trap and is like “aw, man this shit is easy nigga. Nigga, there’s food right there” and the other possum is like “naw, naw don’t do that.” The next thing you know the possum has caught itself. We’re in a situation where if you do music hell yeah you gon’ smoke weed! You gon drink but you have to be wise about the decisions you’re making and how far you’re going to take it.
Am I gon’ get caught with an ounce or am I gon’ get caught with a pound of weed? We’re (rappers) seeing and doing something revolutionary and I don’t mean like wearing your Huey P. shirt with your fist in the air. What I mean is that you (rappers) are independently rich. That’s a revolutionary concept in the history of black males in America because you’ve constantly been dependent on the government or massa. You have a million people if you wear your hat like this they wear their hat like that. If you decide to wear tight jeans they wear tight jeans. So what the fuck happens if you say vote for Barack?
NobodySmiling.com : They vote for Barack.
Killer Mike : Exactly. We don’t recognize our power and because we don’t do that we constantly fall into these bogus bullshit traps. The reason I say the Hip Hop police are active and it’s a trap…if I’m a prosecutor and I catch you (pointing to me) with an ounce of weed you’re just a guy, a reporter. What do I have to gain by prosecuting you? But if you catch Killer Mike…oh shit, I told you…He speaks at high schools, fuck that! He got caught with weed. I want to be an US attorney one day. I’m gon’ prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. We are political pawns whether we’re on the inside or the outside. We are something people can use to advance their careers and make their lives easier. The slavery system didn’t stop. It’s called the county, federal and state prison now. Nothing else has changed. So we have to be wise in the decisions we make. I’m just saying I recognize I’m under surveillance. I fully expect that I’m having my pictures taken. They’re probably taking pictures right now but I’m not going to stop telling the truth. So until I die and I’m laid out I’m going to keep telling the truth to my fans.
NobodySmiling.com : So I take it you feel rappers are not using their influence to make big enough changes in their communities?
Killer Mike : I think that black people as a whole have not been taught the difference between charity and philanthropy. Charity is something that makes you feel good and it solves a temporary problem. It’s like feeding a hungry person fish. Philanthropy is something that is good and works at solving a systemic problem. It’s the equivalent of teaching someone how to fish. If you want to know what philanthropy is say names like Rockefeller and look at their endowment funds. Look at the Gates foundation and their endowment fund.
Look at the Cox foundation. They are trying to make systemic change that they want to see in the community. So they give their money to United Way because they want to see certain changes in the community and they pay to see those changes effected. As a rapper if I give away sneakers at the beginning of the school year, that’s charity. That’s a good thing. I give away books, sneakers and haircuts every August when kids are going back to school. That’s a charitable donation but philanthropy and creating grassroots movements and systemic change is me supporting a group of kids from kindergarten to 12th grade. Imagine if 150 kids at 1 million dollars per year were given their own charter school from kindergarten to 12th grade. One rapper donated 1 million a year because now we have rappers that are half-a-billionaires. That’s a total of 12 million and if you want to include field trips and shit like that throughout the years you could call it 15 million. So for 15 million dollars you can educate 150 kids purely in business.
You can make sure they know Mandarin Chinese so they can involve themselves in trade. You can make sure they know Spanish so they can counteract that NAFTA bullshit all up and through Mexico and Canada. You can do that with the same 15 million that 30 rappers brag about on their half a million dollar chain. We can create systemic change but if these ideas are never introduced…if our lawyers don’t teach us this, if our councilmen don’t teach us this, if our mothers and fathers never knew to teach us this how do we know? So I don’t blame the rappers or the athletes. I’m simply saying it’s time to invest in different types of changes. Temporary change is just that. Permanent change is forever. The only way to do that is to raise the youth differently.
NobodySmiling.com : I know this is something you’ve probably been asked about a thousand times. Since the Birthday Bash incident where fellow Purple Ribbon member C-Bone made a comment (“one monkey don’t stop the show. Remember that nigga”) in reference to you leaving the label have you two been able to make peace?
Killer Mike : Yeah, man. C-Bone apologized and we shook hands. He said “look Mike I just felt like you were the strongest player on the team and you knew what you were doing by being absent” and I did but I had to do it to prove a point. But I wasn’t proving a point just for me. I was proving it for the whole team. Because if the team is starving, the dogs start infighting and that’s what happened at Purple Ribbon. So the big dog stepped out and said I don’t want to eat no more because we’re not eating as a team and my brother didn’t understand that so he chose to lash out on me. But that’s my brother and we’re good.
NobodySmiling.com : Can the Dungeon Family reassemble ever again?
Killer Mike : As a fan, I sure would love to see it. As a member, I don’t have very high expectations for it. So the only thing I could do to encourage Dungeon Family fans was create Grind Time Official. I can’t restore the Dungeon to what it was because I have no control. I’m just a member in that I’m subject to whatever the will of the Dungeon Family is. But I’m in control of Grind Time and I’m gon’ make sure you guys always get quality Street Hop from us. So whatever you felt for OutKast from 93 till now, whatever you felt for E.J. (Witchdoctor), whatever you felt for Cool Breeze, Bacbone…if you lend that loyalty to me I won’t fail you. That’s all I can say to Dungeon Family fans.
NobodySmiling.com : You said rap was dead on Monster a minute ago and it fell on death ears. Fast forward a couple of years, Nas says it and cats are turning tables over. Why?
Killer Mike : At some point, Dr. King was just a young punk preacher and no one wanted to listen to him. Before it was over, every knee had to bow to what he was saying and that’s the best analogy I can give you. At the time I dropped “Rap is dead” people viewed me as some young punk rapper that no one was going to listen to. But I guarantee you this; every knee is gon’ bow before I’m done.
NobodySmiling.com : Speaking of Nas what are your thoughts on his upcoming album, Nigger?
Killer Mike : Nas has a grand opportunity before him in naming his album Nigger, the same opportunity that Dick Gregory had in naming his book Nigger. A lot of people are not familiar with that. This isn’t the first time this has happened. Dick Gregory was a comedian, politically savvy, conspiracy theorist, activist and an organizer. What he did was put something in a book that was provocative and that caused people to talk and to think and debate. If Nas gives us that type of record, then a dream will be realized. If he does anything short of that it will be a public embarrassment.
NobodySmiling.com : Alright man, last question but 16s in the Kitchen…Next year?
Killer Mike : Next year. I’m not gon’ Detox y’all (laughs). I’m still waiting on Detox like God-dammit Dre. 16s in the Kitchen is coming next year. I’m going to get these Pledges out the way and I swear to God if I’m good now I’ll be able to die after 16s. That’s how great it’s going to be. You hear this trap rap, this crack rap and this other shit but there’s never been a personal story. No one has ever said this is my life, uncovered. This is the story of a teenage mother who was a florist and extremely talented who got into hustling and selling cocaine because white suburban women wanted it. And her young son came to her at 16 and said “you’re going to show me this craft.” He emotionally extorted her.
He said “you’re going to show me this craft or I’m going to learn it in the street” so she had to teach him that heinous black craft called the drug trade but did so out of love. It was not because she thought it was some cool shit to do but because she knew her son could not handle himself out there without her guidance and direction. So thank God that my mother loved me enough to even go against the laws of sheer morality and taught me how to sustain and suffice in the streets. So people may say well that’s still not right but I’ve never been to jail because my mother told me if you see the police driving north, it’s your job to walk south. Don’t get caught.
My mother taught me that it’s best to do whatever you do on your own and don’t let people know what you’re doing. I didn’t have to read the 48 Laws of Power because my mother gave me 50 (laughs). She was the first person that told me revenge is a plate best served cold. So if you rob me, I’m not gon’ come right back to the trap to kill you and catch me a life sentence. I’ll wait a whole year and you’ll just wake up gone. Meanwhile, I’ll be sitting right next to momma at your funeral like “oh my God Ms. Jackson what happened to him?” My mother taught me that so thank God. I was tutored under one of the best hustlers that this city has ever produced. My mother and her old man were picked up in 90 moving 150 of them things at $5,000 a piece coming out of the Cayman Islands and that’s for real. That’s not for false. That’s not just some rap shit. I ain’t ever put that in a song trying to impress nobody. But my mother, as diabolical a life she’s lead, is a pure and honest woman and thank God for her. 16 in the Kitchen coming soon…
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