While his bid to be in the Georgia state legislature has apparently been derailed (it turns out he didn't register properly), Killer Mike is still one of the most sought-after voices in hip-hop when it comes to matters political. Last night (June 15), he stopped by The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore to discuss the woman who has, unfortunately for her, become a national talking point: Rachel Dolezal, the Spokane NAACP executive whose parents recently outed her as white. Mike joined a panel that included Wilmore, Robin Thede and Natasha Leggero and was predictably incisive. Amidst recollections of mixed-race German drivers and dreams of being Matthew McConaughey, Mike cracked that "all white people want to be Black," and brought out his iPhone, on which the screensaver is a KKK member wearing wolf-grey Jordans.

Dolezal has elicited remarkable strong reactions from the hip-hop world and the public at large, for obvious reasons. Yesterday, it came out that Dolezal, who claimed to be Black while she held positions in a university's African studies program and at the NAACP, once sued her alma mater, Howard University, for discrimination--against her whiteness.

Killer Mike, long one of the brashest and most outspoken voices in Atlanta's vibrant hip-hop scene, struck gold three years ago when he linked up with New York avant-rap specialist and Def Jux founder El-P. The latter produced Mike's 2012 solo effort R.A.P. Music; they became national stars together a year later with the first installment of their Run the Jewels collaboration. They are currently reworking that record's sequel with backing tracks constructed from cat noises, as per a crowd-sourcing initiative.

 

 

 

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