Pitchfork

Fiery Atlanta MC Killer Mike is on the verge of signing to Grand Hustle, T.I.'s imprint of Atlantic Records, according to a HipHopDX report. In an interview with the website, Mike said, "I'd love to get [the deal] done by [Barack Obama's] inauguration...but quicker if possible," so nothing is finalized yet. Still, if this leads to another "Never Scared", it is a very, very good thing.

On the subject of how the potential business partnership came about, Mike said, "What I'm most happy about is, man, Tip really came to me respectful of the work I put in. Like, he didn't come to me like, 'How can I throw you a bone?' He came to me like, 'I see what you got going on. I really like what you [got] going on. I got some questions about what you got going on.' He asked a few questions. I gave a few answers. And [he] was like, 'I think I might be able to help with what [you] got going on. How would you feel about it?'

"We always had a real kinship, and it's real exciting to be able to have somebody who you had kinda earned your stripes with, and shared a lot of bumps and bruises [with], giving you an opportunity to expand what you doing."

A major label deal would bode well for the release of Mike's forthcoming album 16 in the Kitchen LP, which is already set to feature beats from producers No I.D. and Smiff & Cash, who contributed to Mike's mixtape I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II.

According to HipHopDX, Mike's current plans involve quite a few records with his current label SMC (in collaboration with his own Grind Time label/collective). There's the third installment in his series of I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind mixtapes, a record called Dope Stories ("a collection of solely narrative-driven tracks," according to HipHopDX), and a compilation called Underground Atlanta, which Mike told HipHopDX will feature "a bunch of great Atlanta street records," including tracks from Yung Ralph, Gucci Mane, Princess of Crime Mob, Sean Paul of YoungBloodz, and more. Of those three records, only Underground Atlanta has a tentative release date other than "sometime in 2009". It is scheduled to arrive in March.

Mike will close out the year with a handful of U.S. tour dates.

Killer Mike:

12-11 Toledo, OH - Civic Theatre
12-12 Traverse City, MI - Streeters
12-13 Flint, MI - Machine Shop
12-19 Columbia, SC - Headliners