Killer Mike – Run (ft. Young Thug) (Audio, Lyrics, Video)

Killer Mike unveils the music video for the new “Run” piece of music featuring Young Thug. No I.D produced the song. Listen, stream, read the lyrics, buy the track.

Killer Mike Run

The first solo record for Killer Mike in over a decade, “RUN,” is about Black Americans, the uphill battle for equality and protecting Black art. This song is the penultimate result of decade-old racism and its persistence in today’s society. Mike links up with Young Thug, where the two West Atlanta rappers bask in their blessings while remembering their upbringing in the United States’ unforgiving social climate.

On top of being a rapper, Killer Mike is a political activist who has worked hard to bring awareness to systemic racism and social inequality. Whether its interviews, attending press conferences or presenting college lectures, he is ever so vocal when talking about politics and social issues. In an interview with GQ, he said this about his city’s battle with racism:

It is the Black city that, far from perfect, has worked. It worked during reconstruction. It worked through Jim Crow. It worked for the last 50 years with black leadership…. At every stage, Blacks in Atlanta have found a way.

Given the MC’s stance on the fight for social justice in Atlanta, Young Thug’s inclusion on this track is ever topical, given how he was arrested just under two months before the release of this song. Thugger and the majority of his YSL label mates were locked up on gang-related RICO charges as part of a 56-count grand jury indictment from Georgia’s Fulton County police. Several songs from the YSL group were played inside of courtrooms as evidence in order to convict the artists. This choice was criticized by many, including Thug himself, arguing that no rapper’s artistic expression should be used against them in court. From jail, Young Thug said:

You know, this isn’t just about me or YSL; I always use my music as a form of artistic expression, and now I see that Black artists and rappers don’t have that, you know, freedom.
Another person involved with this track who utilizes race as a form of artistic expression is Dave Chappelle, a comedian who often trivializes race in sketches and standup. Chappelle provides a narrative intro for the song, present on the track’s music video, however, it is absent from the track on streaming services.

During an interview for this track released on Independence Day in the United States, a holiday long understood to be beloved by white people, Killer Mike tells Complex that the first person to die during the American Revolution was a Black man named Crispus Attucks. It is incredibly poetic how Mike aims to capture the silencing of the efforts of Black people in a country where they are still persecuted, despite all they’ve sacrificed for it. Above all else, this track reminds us to never forget to keep running on behalf of the voices who were drowned out in the name of freedom.

Killer Mike – Run (ft. Young Thug) (prod. No I.D.)

Watch Video

Lyrics

[Intro: Killer Mike]
God don’t like ugly, I ain’t one to judge (Judge)
Whole, whole lot of gold cubans weigh a ton (Ton)
Say I kept it solid when it’s all said and done (Said and done)

[Chorus: Killer Mike]
All I know is keep goin’, run, nigga, run (Run)
Mama told me, “Never fold, run, nigga, run” (Run)
Like Jenny told Forrest Gump, “Run, nigga, run” (Run)
The race for freedom ain’t won, run, nigga, run

[Verse 1: Killer Mike]
Had to make it out the red clay, run, nigga, run
The west side of Atlanta, yeah, that where I’m from (Flatland)
Outside, I was hands on like a glove (Like Batman)
Movin’ like my nigga N.O.R.E., eatin’ on the run (Run)
Still an underground king and that’s word to Bun (Bun)
Locked in like Rice Street without a bond (Bond)
I was playin’ with the powder way before LeBron (LeBron)
My wife was born a redhead, but now she a blonde
Politicians lie and your favorite rapper is a con (Con)
Don’t check for me without a check for me, that’s a hund’ (Bluest)
Only Ls I wear is followed by Vuitton (Louis)
Get money and the power, teach ’em while they’re young
Hmm, blessed to make it out the slums, run, nigga, run (Run)

[Chorus: Killer Mike]
All I know is keep goin’, run, nigga, run (Run)
Mama told me, “Never fold, run, nigga, run” (Run)
Like Jenny told Forrest Gump, “Run, nigga, run” (Run)
The race to freedom ain’t won, run, nigga, run

[Refrain: Killer Mike with Young Thug & Young Thug]
This for the ones that never won (Won)
Hurt feelin’ goin’ numb (Numb)
Beat the odds like a drum (Drum)
Run, run, nigga, run (Run, take off)
Run, run, nigga, run (Run, take off)
Run, run, nigga, run

[Verse 2: Young Thug]
I put some brand new Margiela on my bitch
Thinkin’ the same, but ain’t bankin’ the same
I put some brand new Margiela on my bitch
Thinkin’ the same, but ain’t bankin’ the same
I put a brand new fluoresce on her wrist
I bought that bitch a new Patek, plain Jane
This a bigger boat, we ain’t sinkin’ the same
This a PJ, we are not on the same plane
Yeah (Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, goddamn)
Yellow diamonds like the sun (Yeah)
And I keep it one-oh-one (Yeah)
Run (Take off)
Trappin’ out, I’m mama’s son
Now a nigga on the run
Now a nigga shootin’ fun
Ooh-ooh (Ooh-ooh)
I keep this shit on a tightrope
On a PJ with no night clothes (Night clothes)
We just had fucked, why it’s tight though? (Why?)
Why is you tight?
I signed the check like a typo (Yeah)
Rescue the trenches, all of the kiddies
We gon’ and escape on a yacht boat
We gainin’ weight like Big Pun, run, nigga, run
Installin’ this shit in my son, run, nigga, run
Green interior, lawn, run, nigga, run
Dr. Martin boots when I come, run, nigga, run

[Chorus: Killer Mike with Young Thug & Young Thug]
All I know is keep goin’, run, nigga, run (Run, run)
Mama told me, “Never fold, run, nigga, run” (Run, run)
Like Jenny told Forrest Gump, run, nigga, run (Run, run)
The race to freedom ain’t won, run, nigga, run

[Refrain: Killer Mike & Young Thug]
This for the ones that never won (Won)
Hurt feelin’ goin’ numb (Numb)
Beat the odds like a drum (Drum)
Run, run, nigga, run (Run, take off)
Run, run, nigga, run (Run, take off)
Run, run, nigga, run