Why Run The Jewels' Killer Mike thinks every American — especially African Americans — should have a gun

Legend Has It that Run The Jewels, the Atlanta-based hip-hop duo, is taking the stage Thursday night in Vancouver, opening for Lorde.

Run The Jewels, known for singles like Mean Demeanor, Talk to Me and Legend Has It, are rapper and producer El-P and rapper Killer Mike

Since forming in 2013, they have sold thousands of albums of hard-hitting music that has helped them Stay Gold on the top of the hip-hop charts and have been featured on TV shows and movies, including the trailer for Black Panther.

They're also known for their political stances. 

Killer Mike campaigned for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 U.S Democratic primaries and he's Down with his hometown's political scene, joining the new Atlanta mayor's transition team.

Ahead of the duo's performance at Rogers Arena Thursday, Killer Mike sat down for a conversation with On The Coast guest host Angela Sterritt.

You are passionate about youth getting involved politically but also a gun-rights advocate. What do you make of the youth-driven movement for gun control taking place right now in the U.S.?

I'm a civil rights advocate, and we are promised in our Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, in case of tyranny, we're promised the ability to arm ourselves and even have small, regulated militias.

I'm from a people in America that have been free 54 years. My parents were both born under American apartheid. My grandmother and grandfather couldn't go certain places without fear of death.

They were born at a time when they could not sit at a counter next to a white child.

So for me, I have to look at gun rights, not only as an American issue, but as an African-American issue.

And as an African American, whose 16-year-old son can be murdered, potentially, by an agent of the state or a vigilante and that person can go free, I think it would be foolish of me to not advocate that every African-American, especially, and every American, should have a gun.

If nothing else, you should be able to protect your person in public.

Now, as a protestor and organizer since I was 15 years old, I see those young people as my allies. Even though I don't agree with them on every measure that they've taken.

It's International Women's Day today. What do you think men can do, especially in racialized communities, to be better allies of women?

I think especially in racialized communities, you cannot do what white men have done. All the systems we currently live under were done by patriarchal European powers. So, I wouldn't place the load of responsibility on minority men.

But I would say that all men, what they need to do, is listen to the person you're allying with.

If I say I truly want to ally with women, if I truly want to have an equitable relationship, if I truly seek equality, the first thing I must do is be quiet, listen to the facts and opinions as given and be an ally based on those things.

This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity. To hear the full interview, listen to the audio below:

In a separate interview with On The Coast associate producer Rohit Joseph, Killer Mike was asked his opinion on marijuana legalization.

Canada and the U.S. have a history of jailing visible minorities for drug crimes at a higher rate. As the legal cannabis industry arises, what can governments do to reconcile that?

The first thing they can do is retroactively wipe out past convictions for people who are not in jail and release people who are in jail for non-violent marijuana crimes. You can give government grants to businesses that are started up by minorities and/or you can give government incentives like tax breaks to businesses that hire those people.

There was a brilliant politician named Maynard Jackson in Atlanta. He was a black politician. When he became mayor he said 29 per cent of all government contracts had to be minority contracts.

Because of that, you were able to take the men who laboured, who had smaller companies in the black community, who were able to become corporations, because now they had a seat at the table.

With files form CBC Radio One's On The Coast