Why Hip-Hop's Killer Mike is Making Confederate-themed Clothing

Killer Mike has always used his music to negotiate his views about race and politics. Now, on the heels of the recent violence in Charlottesville, the rapper is expressing them through a new line of anti-Confederate apparel

- LIZ SUMAN

As we continue the nationwide debate over whether marble and stone statues of Confederate fighters should fall under the protections of the First Amendment, hip-hop mogul Killer Mike is creating an opportunity for people to express their anti-racist beliefs on their bodies via his new clothing line, released in the aftermath of Charlottesville.

A longtime advocate of social equality who routinely speaks and writes on systemic racism, the Atlanta-based activist and Grammy-winning rapper regularly uses his music, both as a solo artist and a member of Run the Jewels, to negotiate his political views. Now, he’s employing the bodies of his fans.

The visual centerpiece of his new line, Winners and Losers, is a graphic of a basketball scoreboard that depicts side-by-side Confederate and American flags with a score of zero-one. The line is a pragmatic, idealistic and unemotional critique of just how subtly racism continues to unapologetically thread itself through American culture. In releasing his t-shirt and tanks, which may be viewed as controversial by some and celebratory by others, Killer Mike is hammering his message that Americans have the right to celebrate their views—as long as they do it peacefully. Playboy talked with Killer Mike to discuss his latest break into fashion, the president and the state of racism in America.

Was the concept for your new line brewing before Charlottesville?

Yeah. I’m a Southerner. The people on both sides are my neighbors. I’ve grown up with Confederate memorabilia and flags and swag my entire life. There’s a picture of me as a 10-year-old child wearing a Dukes of Hazzard cowboy hat with the Confederate flag, cowboy boots and overalls. As a Southerner, you’re accustomed to seeing the flag.