Killer Mike has been on his grind. Releasing a steady stream of street certified mix tapes and albums along with a healthy internet buzz has allowed this man to be one of the major players in the independent market. It seems that all this hard work has finally paid off as it was announced yesterday that he has signed with T.I.’s Grand Hustle label.  Mike, who was once signed to Outkast’s Purple Ribbon label, will join other Grand Hustle artists such as Big Kuntry King, Alfamega, Young Dro, B.o.B., and living legends 8Ball & MJG.

            Mike says he is excited about the doing the deal with his old friend T.I. and says the whole situation is based mainly off respect. “What I’m most happy about is, man, Tip really came to me respectful of the work I put in. Like, he didn’t come to me like, ‘How can I throw you a bone?’ He came to me like, ‘I see what you got going on. I really like what you [got] going on. I got some questions about what you got going on.’ He asked a few questions. I gave a few answers. And [he] was like, ‘I think I might be able to help with what [you] got going on. How would you feel about it?’”

            Mike and T.I. have collaborated before on several songs but most noticeably was the 2003 Bone Crusher song “Never Scared”, which many say put T.I. back on the map. According to Mike it is an honor to be back up with someone who has gone down the same road he has in many senses. “We always had a real kinship,” said Mike of T.I. “And it’s real exciting to be able to have somebody who you had kinda earned your stripes with, and shared a lot of bumps and bruises [with], giving you an opportunity to expand what you doing.”

            Although most are applauding this move there are some doubters who point out Grand Hustle’s faulty track record when it comes to actually releasing albums from it’s artists. Mike says that like anything else though he feels it’s all in his hands and life is what  you make it. “I don’t know what happened with B.G.,” said Mike referring to the long lost album that was supposed to drop from the New Orleans spitter under the label. “I don’t know what happened with any of the other artists [on the label]. I can’t attest to that…My shit is I gotta feel like I control my own destiny…It’s up to me to make sure that I add to Grand Hustle and not just try to take from it. Any artist can get a deal at Grand Hustle and want the [benefit of the] work that Grand Hustle’s put in to provide the platform for them to do whatever and just eat off of [that]. [But] that’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to add another dimension [to Grand Hustle].”

            Mike’s first album under the label would be the long awaited “16”, however there is no definite release date as of yet for the record.