Killer Mike with his forthcoming solo album MICHAEL, dropping June 16. His sixth overall effort, it is Mike’s first album since 2012’s R.A.P. Music. Having shared the singles “Don’t Let The Devil,” “Talk’n That Sh*t,” and “RUN,” Mike has shared a two-part video for “Don’t Let The Devil” (with his Run The Jewels compadre El-P and thankugoodsir) and a fourth focus track, “Motherless” (with Eryn Allen Kane).
“El’s heard me talk about these bohemian-artsy-disco infused parties my mom used to throw when I was kid. I’d hear everything there- that’s where I first heard Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and Whodini. So when we were trying to figure out what the video for ‘Don’t Let The Devil’ should be – Jaime came back with this treatment written out and I cried at the end,” Mike said. What’s even crazier is he didn’t know what we were doing for ‘Motherless’ either but that’s the magic I guess.
“When I first played Dion (No I.D.) the album he said two things – one of which was that I was essentially holding something back and that was the song ‘Motherless,'” he continues. “It was the last song made for the album because I hadn’t uttered these words out loud since her transitioning. When I tell the story of my mother the tales told include one when I walked in on her attempting to take her own life- it gets to the heart of how deeply sensitive an artist and human she was. She survived, was diagnosed bi-polar and depressed; she fought that until the day she died. She lived a beautifully rich outlaw of a life and I am honored to show her as the total beautiful badass she was.” He continues “These aren’t meant to be sad videos or eulogies. This is a celebration of a Bad Ass Black Girl from the westside of Atlanta. She’s been affectionately called OG Mama Niecy by the many people she helped stay on their path.”
