Killer Mike has dropped a new song, “Detonator.” The hard-hitting track, produced by the rapper’s Run the Jewels collaborator El-P and featuring Rock D The Legend, was written was forthcoming video game Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6.
On the song, Killer Mike raps about the “money and power” in America, acknowledging, “The empire, we are led by them liars/ Wake the fuck up right now, ‘cuz times is getting dire.” A black and white music video for “Detonator” showcases Washington, D.C., as well as iconography from the game itself.
“When Activision told me the theme of the game and what they were looking for, I knew exactly who to call,” Killer Mike said in a statement. “Plus, I’ve been itching to rap on some El-P beats.”
Killer Mike and El-P last collaborated on Mike’s track “Don’t Let the Devil,” off his sixth studio album Michael. They released their fourth Run the Jewels studio album, RTJ4, in June 2020.
Michael marked the rapper’s first solo studio album in more than a decade. It was awarded Best Rap Album at the 2024 Grammy Awards. In July, he followed it up with Songs for Sinners & Saints billed under his gospel group Michael & the Mighty Midnight Revival. “I had a year to live with Michael,” Killer Mike shared in a statement, “and I realized I had more I wanted to do with this sound before moving on.”
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The LP included single “Humble Me,” which recounted his experience being arrested at the Grammy Awards the same night he took home the Best Rap Album award. In June, the L.A. City Attorney’s Office has opted not to file criminal charges against Killer Mike, confirming he had “successfully completed the Office’s Hearing process, including a community service requirement that was imposed.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be released Oct. 25. The highly-anticipated game will take place partially during the geopolitical conflict of the early Nineties, and feature political figures from the era, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, as well as former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
