Killer Mike views rap as social activism, and never shies away from sharing his opinions on race and abuses of power. Whether he’s condemning institutionalized corruption in “Reagan” or speaking out against police brutality with Run The Jewels’ “Close Your Eyes,” if Killer Mike thinks it’s messed up, he’s going to let you know. This Friday, April 24, MIT students will have the chance to hear how messed up race relations are, when Killer Mike delivers a lecture titled “Race Relations in the U.S.” at the school. According to the press release, he’ll be talking about how current and advancing technology are shaping race relations. (We’re guessing that he doesn’t regard drone surveillance as a democratizing agent.) Chances are pretty good that Killer Mike will also be addressing the spate of well-publicized police shootings of young unarmed black men and their systemic social consequences.
Killer Mike’s lecture is the second in MIT’s new Hip-Hop Speaker Series, which opened with Young Guru. The series is the result of a collaboration between the Arts at MIT and TapTape, an MIT-based music startup. The series’ stated goal is to bring “together leaders in hip-hop with leading faculty and students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.” That’s a perfect opportunity for a mathematics seminar featuring Dr. Octagon and Dr. Roman Bezrukavnikov, Professor of Algebraic Geometry.
While Killer Mike’s lecture certainly sounds intriguing, Friday’s lecture is exclusively available to MIT students and is already sold out. But if you’re jonesing to hear Killer Mike drop some heated words, there’s always the extremely-NSFW “Big Beast” video, featuring Bun B and T.I.: