Killer Mike’s new album, R.A.P. Music, is getting a whole lot of positive press these days. Most reviews have been out-of-the-ballpark good (have a look at Popmatters, Spin, and Allhiphop for examples), with just about everybody marveling at the unlikely–and surprisingly successful–combination of Killer Mike and EL-P, the album’s underground producer whose sound does, admittedly, seem ill-suited to Killer Mike’s.  But I agree that it works on R.A.P. Music, though I’m not sure I’d give it a 9/10, as many people have. Maybe an 8. (Update:  I’ve been listening to this all morning and I’m moving it up to an 8.5.  Plus, since Killa Kill himself responded to my post, it’s the least I could do!)

What I like about Killer Mike, a lot, is that he’s a talented MC who is a lyrical throwback to rap’s politically conscious rappers–just add a southern drawl.  He engages politics and makes no attempt to straddle the fence.  Perhaps not surprisingly, my interest was piqued after I listened to the track “Reagan,” which not only attacks the legacy of our 40th president, but also draws uncomfortable–though not entirely misplaced–parallels between him and Obama.  At one point, he raps, “Ronald Reagan was an actor / Not at all a factor / Just an employee of the country’s real masters / Just like the Bushes, Clinton, and Obama / Just another talking head telling lies on Teleprompters.”

First off, you’ve got to give credit to anyone who can make “Obama” rhyme with “Teleprompters.”  Lyrical dexterity aside, here we have yet another rapper who is not feeling Obama–at all.  He goes on to note that both Reagan and Obama went after Gaddafi and in doing so suggests that there’s no real daylight between Obama and his Republican predecessor.  This may play into Obama’s strategy of winning the white independent vote–everyone loves the Gipper, right? (even though his record on a wide range of issues was absolutely horrible)–but it’s got to be encouraging to the Romney folks as well.  Obama does need a strong African American vote to win in some of his key states, yet hip hop artists are on the verge of abandoning him en masse. And who doubts that hip hop could help energize black voters, not to mention young voters of all races/ethnicities?

I don’t think Killer Mike gets it right on Libya–for me, that’s an example of multilateral military intervention done right, something Bush II never would’ve been able to pull off.  But I do confess that I sometimes  have trouble distinguishing Obama from Republicans, and that surprises (and disappoints) me.  As Fredrick Harris’s spot-on piece in the Washington Post argues, Obama’s agenda has all but left African Americans in the dust, and weren’t America’s blatant and growing inequalities something he said he would address?  Didn’t he single out African Americans as a group he planned to listen to?

Now I’m concerned about the upcoming election.  If Mitt Romney were even moderately compelling as an opponent, I’d be downright worried…