Killer Mike recently chopped it up with Pitchfork about his independent spirit, beat selection and his upcoming collaboration album with El-P. During the chat, Mike Bigga discussed how he goes about picking instrumentals, explaining that he doesn’t seek out anything in particular.
“Beats talk to me. Every time I thought I knew what I wanted or went in for a particular type of beat, it hasn’t worked out,” he said. “I would never got to anybody like, ‘Do me a beat just like…’ I don’t work well in those situations, because I’d rather just freestyle and destroy the original beat.”
He also spoke on his upcoming album with El-P, releasing through Williams Street Records. “Me and El-P, you know El-Producto from Def Jux and he’s from Company Flow, he’s an amazing producer and amazing artist and rapper,” he said. “We have a deal with Williams Street Records to put out a cool ass record. Take my rap style and his production style and do a record.”
Having worked several big names in the industry, Mike never leaned on others to carry his name. “I’ve always worked like I was independent of whoever I was with, because I never wanted to wake up hungry and totally depend on other people to feed me,” he continued. “So when I transitioned out of a business deal with them and into my own deal, it was not easy but I was already networked enough to begin to forge my own way, and because I chose to start my own company, Grind Time Official, because of that, I’m now in a joint venture deal with Grand Hustle and working with them.”
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