Following his BET Awards win, Killer Mike called into the chat with Audacy V-103’s Big Tigger all about taking home the award for Album of the Year, his new song “HUMBLE ME,” that GRAMMYs arrest, and whether he’ll ever run for office.

Congratulating Mike on his BET Awards win, Tigger praised the rapper, telling him “I told everybody Monday, I thought you were my favorite part of the show. I said, Killer Mike went full Killer Mike.”

Going on to note, “not only did you give us the story and back story behind what happened at the GRAMMYs in the same building, but then your conversation around fatherhood and brotherhood and the community was so timely needed and passionately delivered.” Before asking, “Why did you feel moved to offer that?”

“I was at home with my people, and I needed - if you go to YouTube right now, I want everybody to check out the new video, ‘HUMBLE ME,’ that symbolizes what me and so many Americans, especially on the Black side of [where] you get detained for a lie. You get brought in for a lie. Later on, they say, ‘Oh man, we realized it was a lie that it wasn’t supposed to be. We ain’t even worried about pressing no charges.’ But that don’t change the fact you got handcuffed. It don’t change the fact you got fingerprinted. Don’t change the fact you were mishandled...So I made a video about it. So anybody wanna know how I feel about it, go watch ‘HUMBLE ME,’ ’cause at the end, the next day, my son woke up with a brand new kidney. My son is okay, and God showed me there’s bigger things to winning awards. Although I’m humble and I’m honored to win awards, ultimately, God fought my battles and I won, and that’s why I won. So, you know, I’m at home with my people. I was going to give that to them."

"In terms of my encouragement for Black men and the Black family, that’s what I know. Being from Atlanta, man, my life is [a] cornerstone by my grandparent’s marriage. The love and [admiration for] one another and commitment to the community. And that’s why I act how I act and I am how I am, and I love Black people. I’m just in love with you. Even if you don’t love me, I love you back, and I love myself enough not to need your love.”

While Mike shared he isn’t seeking and doesn’t need validation, Michael winning Album of the Year at this year’s BET Awards sure does feel amazing. “For those that feel like, ‘Why did Mike win?’ I want y’all to go listen to the album, Michael.” Noting the album “is the Black experience.”

“It is a Black American working-class experience,” he continued. “It’s for the brothers out there, it’s for the sisters who love them, it’s for us. So I believe when you hear this record ... You get Black love, you get Black triumph, Black trial. But what you get in there is the story of Black people. So I want you to check it out. .. and I want people to enjoy it and understand it’s my story, but it’s for us.”

As for if we’ll ever see Michael Render (his government name) on a ballot, Mike had the following to say —“I'm gonna have my ballot in my hand.”

Avoiding the question, going on to add, “I’m gonna vote for who runs the land, but more importantly, I’m gonna be voting down. I think it’s important to understand that you know, no matter if you agree with every case she does or not, Fani Willis is gonna be fighting some tough competition. So you gonna have to say to yourself, ‘Man, do I want the person that I can talk to that I can get? Or do I want this hard-line Republican that’s running against her?’ I think that we have some people who really tried in terms of the preliminaries that didn’t get in, but they should be listened to on the ground... But I want to just say if there’s a local politician you like, get out and fight the fight for them, because on a local level we need to make sure that the people who are over us are who have our best interests at heart and are not simply toeing the line for the National Party. ”

Persisting to get an answer, Tigger asked again, “will I ever be able to vote for you on the ballot?” Obliging this time, Mike said, “When I’m done singing and dancing, I’m probably gonna do something. But I ain’t done singing and dancing for at least another decade. Winning these awards, I’m on tour right now, I’ll be in Canada for the next 10 days, then I’ll be in Europe for the rest of the summer, and I’ll be in America [in the] fall… So I got a lot of work before I get to working on those polls.”

To introduce his new track, Mike shared the following message, “I just want to say to Black people… you only can be humble when you're strong, you only can be humble when you know how much power God is truly giving you. Because that way you keep your ego in check with your humility. So running around here scared ain't the same thing as humble. So I ask God to humble me because I know my strength and I never want my strength to be used for destruction.”

Words by Maia Kedem Interview by Big Tigger