In one of his first in-depth interview since Grammy night, the three-time winner also reacts to comments from Drake, Jay-Z, and Kai Cenat and Adin Ross, and tells us what it’s like to walk into the Waffle House as a conquering hero.
The Cinderella Man success story ofĀ Killer MikeĀ and his years-in-the-making albumĀ MichaelĀ got a nice bow on it at the Grammys this past Sunday. The rapper swept all three rap categories he was in contention for, taking home two trophies for hisĀ Andre 3000Ā andĀ Future-assisted cut āScientists and Engineersā and beating out the likes of Drake & 21 Savage, Nas, andĀ Travis ScottĀ for Best Rap Album. It completes a decade-long arc of Mike betting on himself, pursuing reinvention, reclamation and validation.
But despiteĀ MichaelĀ being one of the more critically acclaimed rap releases of 2023, Mikeās victory over some of his more commercially successful peers has sparked debate, particularly among young rap listeners and their media proxies,Ā like streaming personalities Kai CenatĀ and Adin Ross. Cenat and Ross then found themselves engaged inĀ a war of words with Joe Budden, restarting the eternal youth-versus-age divide within the rap community, as well as the idea of mainstream appeal versus quality.