R.A.P. Music
Studio album by
Killer Mike
ReleasedMay 15, 2012
Recorded2011–2012
GenreSouthern hip hop
Length45:55
LabelWilliams Street
ProducerEl-P
Killer Mike chronology
Pledge
(2011)		 R.A.P. Music
(2012)		 Michael
(2023)
Singles from Rap Music
  1. "Big Beast"
    Released: February 13, 2012
  2. "Untitled"
    Released: March 16, 2012
  3. "Don't Die"
    Released: April 2, 2012
  4. "Reagan"
    Released: November 6, 2012

R.A.P. Music is the fifth studio album by American rapper Killer Mike.[1] It was released through Williams Street Records on May 15, 2012. The "R.A.P." in the album's title is a backronym for "Rebellious African People".[2] Production was handled by rapper and producer Jaime "El-P" Meline; the album was the first collaboration between Killer Mike and El-P, who would later form the critically acclaimed duo Run the Jewels.

Music and lyrics

Reagan

In 2012, on NPR, Killer Mike explained that: "Ronald Reagan was an actor. He was a pitchman at first, and so people naturally trust him. He understood how to weave magic when he was speaking, and that's what we as entertainers do. So when Jay-Z tells you to buy some Reeboks, it means more. Ronald Reagan at one point was the biggest pitchman in the world. I think that Reagan was used by a political party, by people who had vested means, to push their own agendas."[3]

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.1/10[4]
Metacritic85/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The A.V. ClubB+[7]
Chicago Tribune[8]
The Irish Times[9]
NME5/10[10]
Pitchfork8.6/10[11]
Q[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
Spin9/10[14]
XXL4/5[15]

R.A.P. Music received widespread acclaim from music critics.[5] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an weighted mean average score of 85, based on 27 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[5] Among those who reviewed the album positively was AllMusic editor David Jeffries, who stated "rapper Killer Mike already had an incredibly strong discography before R.A.P. Music landed [...] Revolutionary stuff and absolutely no fluff, R.A.P. Music is outstanding."[6] Evan Rytlewski of The A.V. Club praised the album's production and Mike's politically charged lyrics and wrote "[R.A.P. Music] feels like the culmination of his unusual career."[7] Pitchfork's Ian Cohen designated it "Best New Music" and noted that "even if R.A.P. Music doesn't break enough rules or have enough of a platform to reach the levels of Fear of a Black Planet or Straight Outta Compton or Death Certificate . . . it does come off as the kind of powerful mid-career album those acts should've been able to make as hip-hop's elder spokesmen".[11] Christopher Weingarten of Spin wrote: "A child of the '80s and a student of the Internet, Killer Mike is as exciting and wildly unclassifiable as hip-hop gets: New York noise and country shit, nods to when rap was punk and crunk was pop, Ice Cube before he needed hooks, David Banner before he needed to whisper, and Willie D before he needed anybody."[14] Sputnikmusic staff Sobhi Youssef praised El-P's synth-bass-heavy production and Mike's lyricism, and praised the album as "a hip-hop masterpiece to be remembered for years to come".[16]

In a less positive review, NME writer Henry Barnes stated that "Mike has dabbled with politics in the past, and even made unlikely forays into experimental soul, but R.A.P. Music lacks the fury and vitality that usually sustains him. The ambition is to be applauded, but half the album's a grind. And not the good kind."[10]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
AllMusic Best of 2012 15 [17]
Beats per Minute The Top 50 Albums of 2012 23 [18]
BrooklynVegan 141 Best Albums of the 2010s 101 [19]
Chicago Tribune (Greg Kot) Top 10 Albums of 2012 4 [20]
Cokemachineglow Top 50 Albums 2012 9 [21]
Complex The 50 Best Albums of 2012 32 [22]
Consequence of Sound Top 50 Albums of 2012 6 [23]
Crack Magazine The Top 100 Albums of 2012 66 [24]
Drowned in Sound Favourite Albums of 2012 18 [25]
Entertainment Weekly 10 Best Albums of 2012 6 [26]
Exclaim! Best Albums of 2012: Top 50 Albums of the Year 3 [27]
Gigwise Albums of the Year 18 [28]
Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of 2012 11 [29]
The Guardian Best Albums of 2012 39 [30]
No Ripcord Top 50 Albums Of 2012 32 [31]
NPR Music 50 Favorite Albums Of 2012 Unranked [32]
Paste The 50 Best Albums of 2012 29 [33]
Pitchfork The Top 50 Albums of 2012 13 [34]
The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far (2010–14) 70 [35]
PopMatters The 75 Best Albums of 2012 6 [36]
The Best Hip-Hop of 2012 1 [37]
Pretty Much Amazing Best Albums of 2012 16 [38]
The Quietus Albums of the Year 2012 35 [39]
Rolling Stone 50 Best Albums of 2012 20 [40]
The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time 133 [41]
Spinner The 50 Best Albums of 2012 18 [42]
Spin 50 Best Albums of 2012 8 [43]
Stereogum Top 50 Albums of 2012 23 [44]
Time Top 10 Everything of 2012: Albums 10 [45]
Tiny Mix Tapes Favorite 50 Albums of 2012 43 [46]
Treble Top 50 Albums of 2012 9 [47]
The Village Voice Pazz & Jop 8 [48]
Vulture Top Ten Albums of 2012 7 [49]
The Wire 2012 Rewind: Releases of the Year 27 [50]

Track listing

All songs produced by El-P.

R.A.P. Music track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Big Beast" (featuring Bun B, T.I., and Trouble)
3:54
2."Untitled" (featuring Scar)
  • Render
  • Terrance "Scar" Smith
  • Meline
3:54
3."Go!"
  • Render
  • Meline
1:54
4."Southern Fried"
  • Render
  • Meline
4:37
5."JoJo's Chillin"
  • Render
  • Meline
2:57
6."Reagan"
  • Render
  • Meline
4:10
7."Don't Die"
  • Render
  • Meline
4:08
8."Ghetto Gospel"
  • Render
  • Meline
4:40
9."Butane (Champion's Anthem)" (featuring El-P)
  • Render
  • Meline
3:18
10."Anywhere but Here" (featuring Emily Panic)
  • Render
  • Meline
3:31
11."Willie Burke Sherwood"
  • Render
  • Meline
  • Wilder Zoby
4:23
12."R.A.P. Music"
  • Render
  • Meline
  • Zoby
4:26

Personnel

Charts

2012 chart performance for R.A.P. Music
Chart (2011) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[51] 82
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[52] 16
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[53] 12
2022 chart performance for R.A.P. Music
Chart (2022) Peak
position
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[54] 21

References

  1. ↑ "Killer Mike and El-P Team Up for New Album". Pitchfork Media. 13 February 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "Killer Mike: On Ronald Reagan And Raising Daughters". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  3. ↑ Killer Mike: On Ronald Reagan And Raising Daughters. June 19, 2012. NPR.
  4. ↑ "R.A.P. Music by Killer Mike reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 "Reviews for R.A.P. Music by Killer Mike". Metacritic. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Jeffries, David. "R.A.P. Music – Killer Mike". AllMusic. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Rytlewski, Evan (May 15, 2012). "Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  8. ↑ Kot, Greg (May 18, 2012). "Album review: Killer Mike, 'R.A.P. Music'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  9. ↑ Carroll, Jim (June 29, 2012). "Killer Mike". The Irish Times. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  10. 1 2 Barnes, Henry (May 15, 2012). "Killer Mike – 'R.A.P. Music'". NME. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  11. 1 2 Cohen, Ian (May 15, 2012). "Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music". Q (313): 109. August 2012.
  13. ↑ Dolan, Jon (May 23, 2012). "R.A.P. Music". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  14. 1 2 Weingarten, Christopher R. (May 15, 2012). "Killer Mike, 'R.A.P. Music' (Williams Street)". Spin. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  15. ↑ Lelinwalla, Mark (May 15, 2012). "Killer Mike, R.A.P. Music". XXL. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  16. ↑ Youssef, Sobhi (May 13, 2012). "Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  17. ↑ "AllMusic Best of 2012". AllMusic. November 27, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  18. ↑ "The Top 50 Albums of 2012". Beats per Minute. December 14, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  19. ↑ "141 Best Albums of the 2010s". BrooklynVegan. December 31, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  20. ↑ Kot, Greg (December 7, 2012). "Greg Kot's top 10 albums of 2012". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Top 50 Albums 2012". Cokemachineglow. Archived from the original on July 30, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  22. ↑ "32. Killer Mike, R.A.P. Music — The 50 Best Albums of 2012". Complex. December 18, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Top 50 Albums of 2012". Consequence of Sound. December 14, 2012. p. 10. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  24. ↑ "The Top 100 Albums of 2012: 74–50". Crack Magazine. December 6, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Favourite Albums of 2012". Drowned in Sound. December 6, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  26. ↑ "10 Best Albums of 2012". Entertainment Weekly. December 11, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  27. ↑ Keast, James (December 11, 2012). "Best Albums of 2012: Top 50 Albums of the Year". Exclaim!. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  28. ↑ "Albums of the year: Kanye West to Perfume Genius (Nos. 20-11)". Gigwise. December 13, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  29. ↑ Chris (December 2, 2012). "Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2012". Gorilla vs. Bear. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  30. ↑ "Best albums of 2012: 40–21". The Guardian. November 26, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Top 50 Albums Of 2012 (Part One)". No Ripcord. December 18, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  32. ↑ "NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums Of 2012". NPR Music. December 5, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  33. ↑ Jackson, Josh (November 26, 2012). "The 50 Best Albums of 2012". Paste. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  34. ↑ "The Top 50 Albums of 2012". Pitchfork. December 20, 2012. p. 4. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  35. ↑ "The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far (2010–14)". Pitchfork. August 19, 2014. p. 2. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  36. ↑ "The 75 Best Albums of 2012". PopMatters. December 9, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  37. ↑ "The Best Hip-Hop of 2012". PopMatters. December 11, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  38. ↑ "Best Albums of 2012". Pretty Much Amazing. December 27, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  39. ↑ Turner, Luke (December 30, 2012). "Apollo's Bounteous Harvest: The Quietus Albums Of The Year 2012". The Quietus. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  40. ↑ "50 Best Albums of 2012: Killer Mike, 'R.A.P. Music'". Rolling Stone. 5 December 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  41. ↑ "The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  42. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2012". Spinner. December 7, 2012. Archived from the original on December 9, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  43. ↑ "50 Best Albums of 2012". Spin. December 3, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  44. ↑ "Top 50 Albums Of 2012". Stereogum. 5 December 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  45. ↑ "Albums". Time. December 4, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  46. ↑ "2012: Favorite 50 Albums of 2012". Tiny Mix Tapes. December 17, 2012. p. 1. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  47. ↑ "Top 50 Albums of 2012". Treble. December 9, 2012. p. 5. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  48. ↑ "Pazz + Jop 2012". The Village Voice. New York. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  49. ↑ Abebe, Nitsuh (December 2, 2012). "Nitsuh Abebe's Top Ten Albums of 2012". Vulture. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  50. ↑ "2012 Rewind: Releases of the Year 1–50". The Wire. No. 347. London. January 2013. p. 34 – via Exact Editions. (subscription required)
  51. ↑ "Killer Mike Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  52. ↑ "Killer Mike Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  53. ↑ "Killer Mike Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  54. ↑ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
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