Last month, Killer Mike stood behind a podium inside Atlanta's Fox Theater, in front of a crowd of more than 5,000 people. He smiled and adjusted the microphone, turned and waved to the audience behind him, and then he got serious.
"I have said in many a rap, I don't trust the church or the government, a Democrat, Republican, a pope, a bishop or those other men," the rapper said. "But after spending five hours tonight, after spending five hours with someone who has spent the last 50 years radically fighting for your rights and mine, I can tell you that am very proud tonight to announce the next president of the United States, Sen. Bernie Sanders."
Part of the afternoon Sanders spent with the Run the Jewels rapper was well-documented: The pair ate a meal together at Atlanta's Busy Bee Cafe; according to the pool report, the senator had fried chicken, yams, rice and gravy. The other part — a wide-ranging conversation that took place over several hours at Mike's barbershop, the SWAG Shop — wasn't revealed until now.
Mike rolled out the interview, which addressed everything from marijuana to guns, government benefits and voter ID laws, on his Facebook and YouTube accounts.
The six-part conversation could help Sanders build support among young people and, crucially, among black voters, whom he desperately needs to win over if he is going to gain any traction against his rival Hillary Clinton. A recent poll in the early primary state of South Carolina found an overwhelming 80 percent of black Democrats support Hillary Clinton. Sanders has acknowledged the ground he still needs to make up with minority voters, even as he emphasizes that his platform goes further than any other candidate's to address issues that disproportionately impact black and Hispanic communities with proposals that seek to raise the minimum wage, end mass incarceration, and make higher education more accessible.
Click here to see the six videos from Killer Mike's interview with Bernie Sanders:
"Economic Freedom"
"Social Justice"
"A Rigged Economy"
"Free Health Care: It Ain't a Big Deal"
"This Country Was Started as an Act of Political Protest"
"Democrats Win When People Vote"
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