Killer Mike turns inwards on 'Michael'

Eleven years ago, Killer Mike disavowed God in favour of the Church of Rap. On the title track of 2012's R.A.P. Music-a breakout record that catapulted him from underground also-ran to late-stage superstar-the Atlanta, US, rapper laid down the blueprint for his ministry of hip hop, with its sinners and its saints (including Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Aretha Franklin and other icons of black excellence and notoriety).

"This is church, front pew, amen, pulpit," he rapped over blown-out synths, like a preacher deep in the throes of revelation. "What my people need and the opposite of bulls**t!"

Over the past decade and a bit, he has pursued that mission, of spreading the good word of black self-reliance and radical activism, with unfiltered zeal and to great success. Run The Jewels-his rap super-duo with New York rapper-producer El-P-married potty-mouthed revolutionary rage with joyful braggadocio and bombastic future-dystopian production for four commercially massive albums that perfectly captured the mood of a nation mid-collapse, at war with itself. The duo's unexpected fame gave Mike the chance to put his politics into action.

When Ferguson, Missouri burned in the wake of the extra-judicial murder of Mike Brown in 2014, he spoke about the corrosive effect of police brutality in a heartfelt speech that went viral. He campaigned for the American politician Bernie Sanders in 2016 and endorsed the Labour Party's Jeremy Corbyn for the 2017 UK election live at Glastonbury. He created and hosted a Netflix show (Trigger Warning With Killer Mike) in 2019 that addressed issues affecting the black community, complete with experimental solutions such as intra-gang small business and creating a new religion. Over the 2010s, Mike became that rare thing, a veteran rapper whose political rage and vision haven't been blunted by middle age and wealth.