Killer Mike Questions White People’s Use Of The Word “Woke”

Killer Mike will release his next solo album, Michael, on June 16. Listeners can expect the Atlanta-raised recording artist/activist to address political issues in his upcoming project.

“Wokeness” is one of the main talking points in American politics at the moment. Initially, members of the African-American community used the phrase “stay woke” to describe being aware of systemic racial discrimination.

However, wokeness has now become a main target for conservative politicians such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. But some right-wing critics of the idea of racial consciousness can’t explain their own understanding of what “woke culture” represents. Even former Republican President Donald Trump suggested conservatives have overused “woke” as a political catchall.

Killer Mike weighed in on the debate over wokeness in a new cover story for SPIN. As one-half of the Hip-Hop Run The Jewels, he discussed his belief that some Caucasians usurped the word “woke” but don’t actually embrace the call for social justice for Black Americans.

“First of all, white folks 25 years ago couldn’t tell me what the f### woke was,” he said. “They’ve just appropriated your word. Being woke is more than having other people appropriate your struggle for their cause. Who has profited more from affirmative action? White women.”

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The Dungeon Family affiliate added, “So what the f### you gonna keep doing s### that way for who’s who? Who now do you see profiting off Black Lives Matter? People who ain’t Black and who really don’t think your lives matter.”

He concluded, “They just throw the sign in their yard and advocate for whatever they want. Then when you laying on the side of the street dead, or if you walking down the street and they don’t know you, they calling the police on you.”

Killer Mike became a supporter of progressive Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2016 and 2020 runs for the presidency as a Democratic candidate. He also aligned himself with Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. Mike didn’t publicly endorse Kemp in the 2022 gubernatorial race.

Michael by Killer Mike will be the Southern MC’s first solo LP since 2012’s R.A.P. Music. The 48-year-old Grammy winner released the “PART 1: Don’t Let The Devil” and “PART 2: Motherless” mini-films in May. Previously, Mike teamed with El-P for four Run The Jewels albums.