While speaking about White rappers and emotion in Hip Hop, Killer Mike explained his take on the subject. Mike explained that he feels “White people brought self-pity” to the genre.
During an interview with The Combat Jack Show, Mike sat with El-P as the duo, Run The Jewels, and he explained his stance when asked about “White rappers tending to be more honest about their angst and their shortcomings.” Mike disagreed and later explained why.
“I think what White people brought was self-pity,” he shared. “Not you in that [talking to El-P] but a lot of the new White rappers just brought that. I’m sorry. It’s no disrespect. Complaining about a parent and shit is cool but I’m from a community where mothafuckas lost both of their parents to crack. Mothafuckas didn’t even know their… Like, my grandmother raised me. I never knew my mom and dad. So I feel that. And I think that, as a Black audience, we appreciated it because it was something different but that don’t make you more in touch with your feelings than me.”
He went on to add that suffering does not make one special.
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“I’m not saying that experience isn’t worthy. I’m not saying it isn’t valuable. I’m just saying that it’s not special because every human being experiences love, pain and letdown. Your thing is no more special. A lot of times, as Americans and in this country, we feel like our suffering makes us special. You’re special because you’re a human being. How you deal with your suffering can make you extraordinary. Are you going to use it for self-pity or are you going to use it to help others?”
He went on to add that he respects every emcee who stands behind any microphone.
“I love and respect Gunplay as much as I love and respect Talib Kweli. I love and respect Trinidad James the same way I loved and respected [Ol’ Dirty Bastard]. [That’s] because, for me, any artist, when you get on stage, no matter how many clothes you get on, when you get on stage and you got that mic, are butt-fucking-naked.”
More from this, the third part of the Run The Jewels interview, can be seen below.
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