KILLER MIKE
Michael (Loma Vista)
After Sault leant heavily into gospel on one of their recent bumper crop of releases, here’s Killer Mike, one half of Run The Jewels, putting out an autobiographical album which also preaches to the congregation. Songs about Black identity, politics, drug addiction, life choices, prison, absent parents and more depict Mike’s lifestory but the whole thing is so Christian-heavy, humour-free and drenched in church organ, choirs, bland beats and autotune that it sent this atheist running for the hills.
Opener Down By Law is so profane that it’s barely listenable. Shed Tears is overdramatic, a histrionic choir blended with rapping by Mike and guest MC Mozzy giving the impression of a new church trying too hard to sermonise. Exit Tune and Two Days aren’t far off from Tupac’s West Coast 90s style – so if you’re a fan maybe you’ll dig this too.
The more secular tunes around Michael’s middle pricked up my ears: N-Rich is evocatively funky, and the southern trap and tempo changes of Talk’n That Shit!, sporting the line “I don’t give a fuck who the president is, if the president ain’t for me,” feels more contemporary and revolutionary. Slummer, about Mike’s teenage love getting pregnant, features a choir and vocals which get suitably close to heaven; for the most part, though, this album hasn’t inspired devotion in this listener, sadly.
words CHRIS SEAL