Travis Scott has the commercial superstardom that Killer Mike lacks, and the latter has the critical acclaim that has always eluded the former at the Grammys. Mike won Best Rap Album in 2024 for MICHAEL, controversially trouncing UTOPIA in the eyes of younger, newer, less classicist hip-hop fans.
In the aftermath of this, both artists have taken subtle shots at this Recording Academy decision, whether it's the Dungeon Family legend addressing La Flame fans or the Cactus Jack mogul blasting the Academy for "sleeping on him ten times," as he rapped at his "FE!N" performance at the ceremony last year (after losing in his nominated categories).
Now, though, we have a more direct response. Travis included some bars for the Run The Jewels MC on the revamped version of the 2014 DAYS BEFORE RODEO grail "Mo City Flexologist." Its new second verse seemingly took subliminal shots ("Look at the numbers, been killing the mic / Yeah, I been killing the mic"), and Mike certainly interpreted them as such.
Shannon Sharpe asked him about the divisive Grammys win response on his Club Shay Shay podcast. Killer Mike's thoughts on the Travis Scott debate are pretty clear.
Killer Mike Grammy Album
"Shouts out to Travis, shouts out to Nas, shouts out to Metro [Boomin]," he remarked. "So, n***a, I won! That's it, that's it. They put Travis in the position where they tried to get him to diss me. He came with some light bars. It was cute, you know? I appreciated it. That s**t was funny. But this the same kid that I had saw at SXSW. And I remember telling Sway, like, 'Don't try to push him to be no freestyle artist.' This kid's just good, he's entertaining, I like Travis Scott. I take my kids to see him. He's entertaining as s**t. I like the comic book-like imagery he has, I like him a lot.
"But, you know, with that said, I'm an MC. I'm not here to play with you," Killer Mike remarked concerning Travis Scott. "[...] Aye, man, I'm here to win. If you a Travis Scott disparaging me, I don't give a damn, n***a. I still got my Grammys, I wake up every day and kiss them. The f**k you gon' do? N***a can't outrap me. That's just what it is. But that's not to say I'm not entertained, I don't like him. That's just to say, when the game is on, you got to win. [...] I'm not going to feel bad about being a winner... I've given 40 years of my life to this."
