Killer Mike, MICHAEL, Album Review
Hip-Hop | Rap
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
Killer Mike was someone who I (and I imagine many others) had discovered through the rap duo consisting of himself and El-P, known as Run The Jewels, from which Killer Mike is well-known for.
However, the way things seem is that Mike started his discography solo, which spans as far back as 2003 with his debut album Monster. A whole 20 years later, the Atlanta rap artist has arrived with his sixth solo studio album, which has simply been given the name of MICHAEL.
While only discovering the album upon its release, the enjoyment I had gotten out of the RTJ projects that make up a good chunk of my musical teenhood, I was more than willing to give it a spin or two.
MICHAEL is markedly more tied to contemporary hip-hop stylistically as the projects founded by Run The Jewels, as it should be. However, it is no less enjoyable. From the very get-go, this album showed an incredibly high caliber of stylistic quality through its beats, many of the early ones having a level of soulfulness, to an extent, akin to early Kanye projects such as The College Dropout or Late Registration.
As the name and cover art of this album clearly suggests, MICHAEL serves as a deeply introspective and personal project from the rapper. To add to that, Mike talks about the struggles he has overcome, the losses he has had to deal with, and his rise to success; a theme that isn’t particularly new, but nonetheless far more engaging coming from the mouth of this rap artist.
There are also still a few tidbits of Run the Jewels musicality for fans like myself to enjoy. However, this album is certainly one to be appreciated primarily for the quality of Mikes lyricisms and flow, as well as the production. Both remain consistently impressive throughout.
Where Run The Jewels have had some exciting features across their albums, MICHAEL does as well. This album enlists the help of the likes of Cee Lo Green, Andre 3000, Ty Dolla $ign, and many more. Those three featured artists in particular should give one a good insight into the type of style this album goes for. That’s right, it’s soulful, nostalgic, and above all else, incredibly enjoyable.
And while this album doesn’t exactly break boundaries in the scope of Hip-Hop, I find very little about this album to fault at all. I also find it incredibly impressive that Killer Mike can break his solo material apart from Run the Jewels stylistically, as this album very much feels like Killer Mike doing his own thing, while being just as great as the RTJ material I have spent years enjoying.
As far as rap albums of 2023 have gone, MICHAEL is definitely up there with the best, offering fans a generous range of high-quality, engaging, and often heartfelt tracks that will give listeners a lot to enjoy for the remainder of the musical year, myself included.
Favourite Tracks: SHED TEARS | SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS | TWO DAYS | SPACESHIP VIEWS | DON’T LET THE DEVIL
VLNS LLC | Loma Vista | Concord
