Michael Santiago Render aka Killer Mike, is an American rapper, actor, and activist. He is the founder of Grind Time Official Records, which he launched through the SMC and Fontana Distribution. Mike made his debut on "Snappin' and Trappin'" from OutKast's 2000 LP Stankonia, and later appeared on the Grammy-winning song "The Whole World", a single from Outkast's greatest hits album Big Boi and Dre Present...Outkast. He has since released five full-length albums as a solo artist.

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In December 2008, Mike confirmed he signed to fellow Atlanta-based rapper T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records. In 2012, he released R.A.P. Music, produced entirely by American rapper/producer El-P. Killer Mike and El-P subsequently formed a duo in 2013, branding themselves Run the Jewels; the duo was signed to Fool's Gold Records and released their self-titled debut in June of that year.

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Killer Mike is also known as a social and political activist, focusing on subjects including social inequality, police brutality, and systemic racism. In addition to addressing themes of racism and police brutality in his music, he has also delivered several lectures at colleges and universities, written about social justice topics for publications such as Billboard, and been the subject of televised and published interviews regarding police misconduct and race relations. He was a visible and vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders during his 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, and refused to support Hillary Clinton after Sanders left the race.

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Killer Mike has been featured in the films 20 Funerals, Idlewild, Baby Driver and ATL. In January 2019, his Netflix documentary series Trigger Warning with Killer Mike premiered.

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Michael Santiago Render was born in the Adamsville neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia on April 20, 1975, the son of a policeman father and a florist mother. Because his parents were teenagers at the time of his birth, he was partly raised by his grandparents in the Collier Heights neighborhood of Atlanta. In 1995, Killer Mike briefly attended Atlanta's Morehouse College, where he met producers The Beat Bullies and eventually Big Boi of OutKast. His music debut was a feature appearance on OutKast's "Snappin' & Trappin'" from the 2000 album Stankonia, followed by their 2001 single "The Whole World", which won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. He was featured on several other tracks that year, including "Poppin' Tags" from Jay-Z's The Blueprint 2.

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Killer Mike released his debut album, Monster, in 2003 while being managed by Dayo Adebiyi and Al Thrash of Own Music. The album's lead single was "Akshon (Yeah!)", which featured OutKast on guest vocals. A remix of "Akshon (Yeah!)" was included on the soundtrack of EA Sports' video game Madden NFL 2004. The album's second single was "A.D.I.D.A.S.", featuring Big Boi and Sleepy Brown, which peaked at #60 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is Killer Mike's highest charting single to date as a lead artist. Source.