RAP Music

RAP Music
Studio album by Killer Mike
Publication (s)	2012
Label (s)	Williams Street
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	Hip hop
Title (number)	12
running time	45:55
production	El-P
chronology PL3DGE (2001) RAP Music Run the Jewels : Same (2013)
Single releases 2012 Big Beast March 16, 2012 Untitled April 2, 2012 Don't Die

RAP Music is the sixth solo album by the US rapper Killer Mike . It was released on May 15, 2012 on the independent label Williams Street Records.

Origin background

Killer Mike and El-P met in 2011 through Jason DeMarco, a mutual friend on Adult Swim and the Cartoon Network . El-P was working on the album Cancer 4 Cure , for which they recorded the joint track Tougher Colder Killer . In parallel, they worked on the album RAP Music , the sixth solo album by Killer Mike. El-P is the sole producer of the album. It was the rapper and producer El-P's first collaboration with killer Mike before they formed the duo Run the Jewels . The album was released on May 15, 2012 on the Adult Swim associated label Williams Street Records.

Track list

number	title	Featuring	Text / music	time
1.	Big Beast	Bun B , TI & Trouble	Michael Render , Jaime Meline , Kevonte "Trouble" Campbell, Bernard Freeman , Clifford Harris Jr.	3:54
2.	Untitled	Scar	Render, Meline Campbell, Terrance "Scar" Smith	3:54
3.	Go!		Render, meline	1:54
4th	Southern Fried		Render, meline	4:37
5.	JoJo's Chillin		Render, meline	2:57
6th	Reagan		Render, meline	4:10
7th	Don't Die		Render, meline	4:08
8th.	Ghetto Gospel		Render, meline	4:40
9.	Butane (Champion's Anthem)	El-P	Render, meline	3:18
10.	Anywhere But Here	Emily Panic	Render, meline	3:31
11.	Willie Burke Sherwood		Render, Meline, Wild Zoby	4:23
12.	RAP Music		Render, meline	4:26

Music style and lyrics

El-P's music on the album was recorded on a Roland TR-808 and developed a "dark, distorted effect backdrop" that differs significantly from his other productions. The music is tailored to Killer Mike's album, which mainly touches on political issues. As a classic rapper / producer album, as was the case with the early Ice Cube albums, for example, this also differs from Killer Mike's previous albums. The album is based on the 1980s hip-hop and contains not only lyrical, but also musical references to NWA and Public Enemy , especially through the angry lyrics that describe the everyday life of the black population in the USA.

Title info

At Big East , Mike worked with TI and Bun B for the first time since the 2003 Akshon remix .

At the beginning, Untitled addresses women as such and their role in history. Killer Mike, himself the father of two daughters, draws parallels with historical personalities such as Jackie O and Cleopatra , but also addresses the role of the mother of great men. The second part is about growing up in the south. Killer Mike is from Atlanta , Georgia and draws parallels with his friends at OutKast , who offered him a platform for the first time. He compares his art with John Gotti , who paints pictures like Dali or a mixture of Jean-Michel Basquiat with the passion of 2Pac and a body like Notorious BIG , who tells stories like Slick Rick .

Reagan refers to Ronald Reagan and his reign. Killer Mike sees Reagan primarily as an actor who came into the presidential role through clever marketing and is more of an image as a person.

Don't Die deals with police brutality. It starts with a sample from Dick Gregory . Mentioned is the case of Larry Davis , who shot six police officers who stormed his sister's apartment during an illegitimate house search. The Black Panther activists Fred Hampton and Assata Shakur as well as Martin Luther King are also mentioned . In the song, Killer Mike also mentions that his father was a police officer.

Go is a collage of different samples from disco to heavy metal in the style of Jam Master Jay , over which Mike raps in the style of a Chuck D. The track can be seen as a reminiscence of West Coast hip-hop. It originated as a kind of freestyle .

Southern Fried blends rap with country music and features a hook sung by Killer Mike for the first time .

Jojo's Chillin ' describes a person who is made up of different personalities from Mike's environment.

Anywhere But Here is about killer Mike's hometown of Atlanta and compares it to New York. Police brutality and murders are discussed. The death circumstances of Martin Luther King , Sean Bell and Kathryn Johnston are addressed .

Willie Burke Sherwood is the name of Killer Mike's grandfather. The lyrics are about Mike's childhood growing up with his grandparents and are one of the few personal pieces on the album.

RAP Music : The acronym "RAP" stands for "rebellious african people". The "african" refers to the cradle of mankind in Africa , so only indirectly related to the skin color. He also draws parallels to the development of American music from gospel to blues to rock 'n' roll , on to soul and R&B to rap music.

reception

The album received a large number of benevolent reviews and later featured on a number of annual bestsellers. Complex magazine selected RAP Music at number 32 of the 50 best albums of 2012. The American Rolling Stone even voted the album at number 20. On Stereogum, the album was ranked 23rd in the year in review.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Christopher R. Weingarten: Run the Jewels: 2014's Brashest Rap Duo Comes Back From Oblivion. Rolling Stone , October 24, 2014, accessed June 9, 2015 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Killer Mike: RAP Music at Allmusic (English). Retrieved July 14, 2015.
3. ^ ^{A b} Carlos Steurer: Run the Jewels: The Main Ingredient . In: Juice . No. 157 , March 2014, p. 64-67 .
4. ^ Ian Cohen: Killer Mike: RAP Music. Pitchfork Media , May 15, 2012, accessed July 14, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Greg Kot: Album review: Killer Mike, 'RAP Music'. In: Chicago Tribune. May 18, 2012, accessed July 14, 2015 . 
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Luke McGormick: Hear Killer Mike's Fiery 'RAP Music': The MC Runs Us Through His New LP. In: Spin . May 7, 2012, accessed July 7, 2015 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b c} Killer Mike: On Ronald Reagan And Raising Daughters. NPR Music , June 19, 2012, accessed July 14, 2015 . 
8. ↑ Lyrics of Untitled , Genius.com , accessed July 14, 2015
9. ↑ Killer Mike - Don't Die. In: whosampled.com. Retrieved July 18, 2015 . 
10. ↑ Don't Die. In: Genius.com . Retrieved July 18, 2015 . 
11. ^ Peter Lillis: The New Underground: A Review of Killer Mike and El-P's RAP Music. (No longer available online.) May 30, 2012, archived from the original on July 15, 2015 ; accessed on July 14, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ Lyrics of Anywhere But Here , Genius.com , accessed July 14, 2015
13. ↑ RAP Music by Killer Mike. Metacritic , accessed July 14, 2015 . 
14. ↑ The 50 Best Albums of 2012. Complex, accessed July 14, 2015 . 
15. ↑ 20 Killer Mike, 'RAP Music'. In: Rolling Stone . Retrieved July 14, 2015 . 
16. ↑ Top 50 Albums of 2012. Stereogum, accessed July 14, 2015 .