Killer Mike

"I’m mad as hell. I woke up wanting to see the world burn yesterday, because I’m tired of seeing black men die. He casually put his knee on a human being’s neck for nine minutes as he died like a zebra in the clutch of a lion’s jaw... So that’s why children are burning it to the ground. They don’t know what else to do. And it is the responsibility of us to make this better right now. We don’t want to see one officer charged, we want to see four officers prosecuted and sentenced."

"We don’t want to see targets burning, we want to see the system that sets up for systemic racism burnt to the ground... I am duty-bound to be here to simply say: That it is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy. It is your duty to fortify your own house, so that you may be a house of refuge in times of organization. And now is the time to plot, plan, strategize, organize, and mobilize... It is time to beat up prosecutors you don’t like at the voting booth. It is time to hold mayoral offices accountable, chiefs and deputy chiefs. Atlanta is not perfect, but we’re a lot better than we ever were, and we’re a lot better than cities are."

"I love CNN… but I gotta say to CNN right now: Karma’s a mother. Stop feeding fear and anger every day. Stop making people feel so fearful and give them hope. I’m glad [protestors] only took down a sign and defaced a building, and they’re not killing human beings like that policeman did. I’m glad that they only destroyed some brick and mortar and they didn’t rip a father from a son, they didn’t rip a son from a mother, like the policeman did."

"I think the times are forever and always. The oligarchs are always making slaves of us. We're always resisting. Rome would have crumbled 200 years earlier if not for the circus. If there is no entertainment, if there is no distraction, or [people asking] what's the next fucking app? If none of that happens, and you're left to see the world for what it really is... raw. We're in a fucking jungle, all the time. Now because I happen to represent a group of people that happen to be on the lowest rung of that ladder, in the most brutal capitalistic system in the world, we always see the jungle. Even though you can distract yourself with [many things] the jungle is still fucking going on. What [happened this summer is] everybody started paying attention at the same time. Like Nina Simone said, "It's an artist duty to represent the times." I'm glad that the words [from the new album] are hitting people. But they're always true. Before Eric Garner and "I can't breathe" it was true. Post Eric Garner "I can't breathe" it's true. And unless we can do something to resist the state and its tyranny over us, using our fellow citizens as authority figures to the most brutal extent, those songs will always be relevant. It's just when the people choose to pay attention. That's the difference. There is no "going to the movies." There is no distracting yourself from what's going on right now because everybody is the fuck inside. I'm glad they got it."

"After I'm done with an album, I'm already thinking about the next. Watching the Michael Jordan [documentary "The Last Dance"] really helped me understand I'm not insane. In my mind, everybody's sleeping on me. That's what I tell myself to get myself ready. I'm like y'all motherfuckers still don't get how dope Run the Jewels is, and here the fuck we go again. I'm gonna feel like that every Run the Jewels record because I don't ever want to get complacent. I always want to push."

"They declared the war on drugs like a war on terror"

"They would take our drugs and money, as they pick our pockets"

"Cause slavery was abolished, unless you are in prison"

"As protests in Atlanta escalated toward looting and clashes with police, Run the Jewels’ Killer Mike appeared at the mayor’s press conference to deliver an emotional speech pleading with protestors not to vandalize their city. The rapper, the son of an Atlanta police officer, said that while he has “a lot of love and respect for police officers,” mentioning that police department’s “original eight” African-American officers in the 1940s. “Here we are 80 years later, and I watched a white officer assassinate a black man, and I know that tore your heart out” Killer Mike said."