New Killer Mike Interview

BallerStatus.com: Talking about southern lyricism, a few people like 50 Cent talk about having to dumb-down their lyrics to appeal to the south. What are your thoughts on remarks like those?

Killer Mike: I think 50 appealed to the whole globe with the southern style. I think 50 is the greatest elevation that southern music can sell globally and it can be a driving force. Southern music is about not only dope lyrics, but having those lyrics with a particular swag and having certain melodies and rhythms. I think 50 did a great job at picking up the lessons of the south. Honestly, he was the predecessor to how huge the south movement is now. He didn't invent the style we had, it was a southern style. You can hear that style in Pimp C. You can hear that style, especially, if you listen to 50 Cent's first record and if you hear Young Bleed's first record -- the lazy style with the clever delivery is apparent in both records. 50 maximized it to its fullest potential, and he's a brilliant man for doing that. I got a lot of respect for the homie. But I really think his career and the prosperity that he's had shows how effective the south can be. As a southern artist, I'm going to take that as one to learn on and one to grow on, and I'm going to keep doing dope southern sh**. I know this sh** can sell 10 million records. 50 proved that a southern style could outsell any other style. So I want to thank him for that.

BallerStatus.com: A lot of New York artists have grown frustrated because radio stations like Hot 97 are playing down south music, but not playing Corey Gunz, or other dope up-and-comers from New York.

Killer Mike: I was just having an interesting conversation about Corey Gunz, in particular. I was talking about how dope he was, and I joke about who New York chooses to get behind. I'm not from New York, so I don't know the idiosyncrasies of how they pick people to get behind, but my thing is you got guys like Hell Rell, JR Writer, 40 Cal, Corey Gunz ... guys just sitting up there who are bona fide spitters. They're retarded. Yet, you're not getting behind them and not making sure the world recognizes them. I think New York should get behind their dope artists. The last people New York got behind are extremely successful. I don't really know the problem with New York, but I can't much say I care. I care about New York as the mecca of hip-hop, but I don't care about n****s wanting me to ride their d***.

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