Originally Released May 15, 2012
Reissued May 13, 2022
Adult Swim
1xLP and 2xLP (Green Vinyl w/instrumentals)
It's funny to think that, after nearly a decade as one half of most successful rap duo on the planet/one of the largest personalities in hip hop, Killer Mike spent the majority of his career as a stalwart underground professional. Hell, even a Grammy he split with Outkast couldn't break him into the wider conscious of rap listeners. Ironically, it took another icon of the underground (and soon to be partner in rhyme), El-P to find the perfect palette for Killer Mike's well-meaning, militant, sometimes-violent, always-passionate, deeply southern style to burst through like an elegant elephant. R.A.P. Music is half gospel, half gangsta rap. taking cues from Cannibal Ox and Three Six Mafia in equal measure. Ice Cube's Amerikkka's Most Wanted is a good reference point, in that they're similarly collaboritve efforts from disparate parties that don't make sense until they're pulverizing a subwoofer. It's proto-RTJ. It's a modern classic. And it's a decade old this Sunday.