After announcing R.A.P. Music in 2010, fans finally got a a release date, tracklist, and album cover for the Killer Mike and El-P’s project.
In a recent interview with HipHopWired.com, the Atlanta emcee provided further insight on the LP, and why he decided to record with the Brooklyn producer.
In explaining why he chose to have El-Producto lace the project entirely on his own, Mike Bigga cited some of the most successful emcee-producer combos of the past.
“If you look at Ice Cube with The Bomb Squad, if you look at Cypress Hill and Muggs and Gang Starr and Premier, I wanted that one producer experience,” revealed Mike. “When me and El-P got in, he came to Atlanta for like a week. We did four or five joints. And by the time he left, I was convinced that not only did I want to do the record in full, but I wanted to do the record only with him.”
Mike continued, elaborating on the recording process with El-P. “Our chemistry just clicked so instantly I was like, Yo, we got to do it. So, last summer, I went up to Brooklyn. I stayed on the Lower East Side for four or five weeks and we knocked out a whole album. That’s the way it used to get made. That’s the way I feel like albums should and could get made.”
The first song off of R.A.P. Music, “Big Beast 
” featuring Killer Mike, Bun B, T.I. & Trouble, leaked last week.
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Big Beast is absurd, this album gonna be a classic; just like all albums entirely produced by El-P (Funcrusher Plus, Cold Vein, Fantastic Damage, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead). Killer Mike thrives on that hard heavy shit that El-P will provide.
el-p makes classic shit. cold vein is genius. the first leak was incredible. killer mike is a monster. this album is a shoe in. gonna be something serious. tell a friend, get it.
Agreed. Cold Vein was amazing from beginning to end
the F word and raspberry fields have always been skipable IMO…but I feel u though…
I believe The Cold Vein is one of the best Hip hop albums made from a production standpoint.
Raspberry Fields is ridiculoid. One of the iller beats on the album (though that whole album is ridiculoud). El-p is a beast and between R.A.P. music and Cancer for Cure, he’s going to own 2012.
More artists need to revisit the one producer albums. Keeps it consistent and cohesive as heck.
I always heard of El-P but never really got into his work. This is a good album for me to experience and introduce me to his production. I need to revisit his past records that were mentioned below.
Shoot it was the covert coup mixtape that pretty much sold me onto Curren$y. The ALC’s soundscape for him on that joint was perfect and I still can’t stop playing the record.
I’m looking forward to this album, man. I really am. I’ve always been a Killer Mike fan but the thing with him to me was always overbearing bumpity bump production. I couldn’t deal with it.
Dont forget El-ps production on some of Mr Lif’s stuff. Phantom’s gotta be the illest shit I’ve ever heard.
Yeah, “I Phantom” is amazing. “I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead” is also a modern classic.
hood artistry. hip hops been really good to us this year.
Big mistake from washed up Killer Mike. He should have got Lex Luger and Drumma Boy. Anyway that probably won’t have helped much anyway since he is too old and way past his best.
What makes you say dat?
Go kill yourself, on all counts you sound like a retard
1. Lex Luger has been making the same beat over and over since he started
2. Your never to old to be a musician
3. Killer Mike has been at his best these last few years lyrically
If y’all like Killer Mike, you may enjoy my blog, Rhymes and Reasons. Its a series of interviews with hip-hop heads who discuss their lives in the context of a few songs that matter to them. Pretty powerful stuff. Please take a look.
http://thisisrhymesandreasons.wordpress.com/