Killer Mike

Killer Mike Discusses Community, Business

''I Own A Barbershop In Atlanta'' 7:30PM ET June 19th, 2012 Contributor : Chris G. A Rocky Williform Company Rapper Killer Mike discussed his latest business venture in a recent interview. The celebrated rhymer discussed his barbershop and why he wanted to open a business in the community. "I own a barbershop in Atlanta -- Graffitis SWAG Shop, 3461 Roosevelt Highway -- if you ever get off the airport, come and get your eyebrows arched or something," Killer Mike explained to NPR. "I got tired of the music business, because the music business often turns into the music-scheming business. I wanted to do a business that I knew could sustain in the community, that would be relatively easy to open and operate, and one I was genuinely interested in. In the African-American community, very few businesses are owned by African-Americans, so it begins to bring up the debate of, 'Do you have a community if you don't own the businesses in that community?' But one of the only things that African-Americans still own and operate are barber and beauty shops." "With barbershops, you have the ability to know what's going on in the community, to influence the community," Mike continued. "I want a chance to have my finger on the pulse of the community and at the same time provide jobs and make profit, so I went into that." "Some of my next ventures will probably be store ownership, beauty supplies, nails," he says. "I want to be where black people are spending money. It's sexy to sell vodka, it's sexy to own a record label, it's sexy to own a clothing company. But sexy is not what's paying for the communities that are north of Atlanta. Our dollars are just buying sodas and potato chips, and I think that we have to get into the business of being the merchants of our own communities."