I've heard of Killer Mike before this album, but had never listened to him knowingly...from that POV this album is remarkable. It feels nostalgic and fresh at the same time. Heavy beats, sharp lyrics with gigantic flow, and an admirable conscience make this album the must hear of year for me so far in 2012.

This album is an instant classic to be remembered for years!! Mike represents 80s Public Enemy and socially conscious! El-P represents it like a Bomb Squad ! Currently the most underrated producer in the game he really makes ear-blasting beats and quality stuff that i haven't heard for a long time! It is Album of the Year for real.

Definately my favorite album of the year along with Kendrick Lamar's 'good kid m.A.A.d city'. 'Reagan' is without a doubt the best track on the album and possibly the best song of the year. Far superior to mainstream hip hop.

Killer Mike's "go-hard" approach to his flow matches up perfectly with El-P's bass-filled beat production. Together they are a perfect match that have created an album that will be added to the great big photo album of important works in hip-hop.

Wow! This album was surprisingly good. I have nothing bad to say album the album. It's a classic hip-hop album. This is probably his best album he has done so far. This album is unique because the lyrics is about politics and social issues. We need more albums like this. Good job Killer Mike.

I did not feel like a style from the 80's with great Public Enemy. The production is so fantastic to do almost envy of Dr. Dre, now remained in prehistory. Killer Mike is increasingly becoming one of the greatest exponents of the genre thanks to his ability to interpret an album excellently produced by El-P. This album is proof that rap is not dead and probably a masterpiece that will be remembered for years.… Expand

An album tht for me at least, came way out of left field. I'm not the type of man to say that maainstream rap is dead and underfground albums are the saving grace of modern rap albums. But this is a **** brilliant album which is able to pump you up with classic rap brags and challenges on bigbeast but also generally make one feel the intense paranoia that big mike seems to feel on tracks such as regan is quite scary and makes you think. It's hard not to believe the convincing phrases that mike turns, It's legita fantastic 21st century undergroupound rap album… Expand

R.A.P. music is an album that completely caught me off guard. I never anticipated it's release and randomly decided to listen to a few tracks after reading all of the excellent reviews. Believe the hype. This album is truly incredible. I won't go as far as to call it a classic just yet, but it's pretty close. By now I've purchased the album and listened to it several times. It's a perfect blend of lyrics and production. El-P's production is excellent on this album. From the opener "Big Beast" feat. Bun B and T.I. to the title track closer, El-P gives a lot of varied beats. Everything from southern, almost futuristic, bangers to old school NY boom-bap. One of my favorite tracks "Untitled" has bass that could rattle anyones trunk, while "Jojo's Chillin" sounds like a slightly more modern version of a beat that Slick Rick would use for Children's Story. What really makes this album is the lyrics though. Killer Mike is a beast on the mic, and I'll admit that I've unfairly overlooked him. On the very beginning of Untitled he comes in as strong as you possibly can. As soon as the beat hits, Mike goes off, rapping, "You are now witnessing elegance in the form of a black elephant/smoking white rhino on terraces/will I die slain like King by a terrorist/will my woman be Corretta, take my name and cherish it/or will she Jacki-O, drop the Kennedy, remarry it/my sister say it's necessary on some Cleopattra s***/my grandmomma say, nope, never that it's sacrilige", Family is a strong theme to Killer Mike's lyrics, and this album is great because of it. Another popular theme for him is politics. He single handedly dismantles Reagan's entire legacy on "Reagan" over another strong beat from El-P. He also briefly compares Reagan to other presidents such as Buch, Clinton, and wait for it.... Obama. It's pretty rare to hear a rapper not support a black president. I honestly don't think it's ever happened, but it just goes to show how smart and honest Mike is. I'll reiterate that Mike is a VERY smart dude, and he proves it throughout this album. "Anywhere But Here" is another great track. On this one Mike barely even raps, but he paints a perfect commentary on the state of New York City, as well as his hometown of Atlanta. It's another strong political statement, but it's still very grounded in reality. He's not just blindly ranting against authority, even if it sounds like it on a track like "Don't Die", where Mike does his best Ice Cube impression while he gives his own version of F*** the Police. There really isn't one track that I can complain about. They're all strong in some way, even if some tracks aren't as memorable as others. The Killer Mike El-P collaboration has to be the best collaboration since Madlib and MF Doom for Madvilliany, and that was 7 years ago. These two were meant to make music together. As Killer Mike says on the closing track, "This is what my people need, and the opposite of bulls***". That's exactly what this album is, real rap music, not that sucka s*** they play on TV.… Expand

This is an extremely good album overall. The synergy of El-P's production with Killer Mike's rapping is almost seamless. Untitled, Reagan, Butane, and Anywhere But Here are, in my opinion, the best tracks. The one track that slightly disappointed was Big Beast; although the guest rappers did just fine for themselves, Mike's own intensity kind of overwhelmed his usually great lyricism. Still, compared to most other gangster rap cuts, it was truly great. Overall, a great album, and definitely a contender for album of the year.… Expand

First off, I'd like to state that NME can SMD (50, really?!)... If you're not sure what that means, just think it through. This album is phenomenal! Definitely the best rap album of the year, so far. Thank the sweet lord above for teaming Mike and El-P up. It seems they were meant to be together. This is where future and past collide.

From the first second you play this album you hear Killer Mike chanting "Hardcore G **** homey I don't play around/ain't **** sweet bout the peach this Atlanta clown/Home of the dealers and the killers and the clubs though/Betcha walkin out that Magic City with a snub, hoe". With that blast of hardcore southern rap in your face before you have any time to hear anything else. You get the theme to R.A.P. Music, it is a summarization of what rap music is. From gangsta to political, **** brags to personal stories. Killer Mike sums up everything you can expect from rap music in general. Backed by indie phenomenon El-P's production, this combo is like the match made in heaven you would never think of. The opener, Big Beast brings the already unlikely scenario of Killer Mike and El-P in a studio together and adds in Bun B and T.I. to make the scenario unbelievable. If you told me 10 years ago T.I. would be rapping over an El Producto beat. I would tell you to quit drinking. But they all fit together perfectly, while they spit about how badass they are. The song Untitled deals with Mike's paranoia as he describes his life in contrast to Dr. King's life. Then we get 3 songs of straight up hard raps with Go!, Southern Fried and JoJo's Chillin. The latter being a story about a guy who's smuggling drugs from Atlanta to New York getting constant hallucinations of Ghostface and all the things that could go down. Reagan is a song about who else but Ronald Reagan, and putting every president since him on blast as well. Don't Die is him being on the run for murdering a crooked cop. Even referenceing the fact that his father was a cop. Ghetto Gospel, Butane and Anywhere But Here have weak hooks, but the verses are still amazing (El-P delivers a dope as hell verse on Butane). And Willie Burke Sherwood & the title track are perfect tracks to end on with the former paying homage to his family and the latter paying homage to his music.

R.A.P. Music is a superb album with witty, thought-provoking lyrics mixed with strong production. What I love most is that both Killer Mike & El-P changed their style to fit with each other and yet neither of them sound like they were conforming to each others usual style. Though this is their only album, they sound like they've been working together for 5 years. Props to them for making (if not one of) my favorite album of the year.… Expand