Killer Mike has won in all three of his nominated categories at the Grammys, including Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for his song SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS. He also won the Best Rap Album for his sixth studio album, Michael. Along with his rap career, Michael Render, aka Killer Mike, has also built businesses and invested in properties across Atlanta. Mike took a piece of business advice from Warren Buffet in making his best business decision—marrying his wife Shana Render.
Following his 3/3 win at the 66th Grammy Awards, the rapper was reportedly removed from the ceremony in handcuffs by the LAPD. The details surrounding the reason for his arrest are still unfolding, and many have deemed this incident at the Grammys as unfortunate.
Killer Mike Reveals Marrying His Wife Was His Best Business Decision
In 2003, after his previous Grammy win for The Whole World, Killer Mike turned down a lucrative deal to join Virgin Records and instead opted for an independent rap career. Despite such a bold business move, Mike considered his best business decision to marry his wife, Shana. During an interview with CNBC’s Make It, the rapper shared that his wife has been his “fight coach.”
When he became independent in 2003, Mike revealed that he was struggling for nearly two years in his rap career. During this time, it was Shana who supported their family, which included their four children. The couple not only owns properties together but is also co-owners of Graffiti’s SWAG shop, an Atlanta-based barbershop with two locations. He revealed that his wife’s support further ingrained in him that “this is the person I’m supposed to be with.” The rapper shared with CNBC Make It:
“I went broke, I failed. My wife was the only person who believed in me and wouldn’t let me give up on myself.”
Mike’s struggling career began to gain back its glory in the early 2010s when he released his fourth and fifth albums. His fifth album, R.A.P. Music, was entirely produced by rapper and producer El-P. The success of this collaboration led to the formation of the rap duo Run the Jewels in 2013. The duo were nominated at the 60th Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song for their track Chase Me.
Killer Mike’s Best Business Decision Drew Inspiration From Warren Buffet
While establishing his small business empire in Atlanta, Killer Mike credited billionaire Warren Buffet with teaching him valuable lessons about personal finance. Mike shared that Buffet’s personal finance lessons also emphasized the importance of finding the right life partner. In his speech at Columbia University in 2017, Buffet stressed the importance of marrying someone with a strong business drive (via CNBC):
“You want to associate with people who are the kind of person you’d like to be. You’ll move in that direction. The most important person by far in that respect is your spouse. I can’t overemphasize how important that is.”
Killer Mike embraced this advice wholeheartedly and found great happiness in doing so. In 2019, Mike, who’s also a social and political activist, released a six-episode docu-series on Netflix, titled Trigger Warning with Killer Mike. The series investigated social issues affecting Black Americans in the country. Mike revealed that when his wife saw a billboard promoting the Netflix series, she told him, “Trigger Warning. I always knew you’d be up there.”
For his Grammy-winning rap song SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS, Killer Mike collaborated with the artists André 3000, Future & Eryn Allen Kane.
