1975

Michael Santiago Render (Killer Mike) and Jaime Meline (El-P) were born in their respective hometowns, Atlanta and Brooklyn, respectively. Only El-P had a parent with a musical background, as his father was a jazz pianist who went by the moniker Harry Keys.

1992-1993

El-P attended the Center For The Media Arts in Manhattan and studied music engineering. He met Louis Ballentine there, who recognized his skill at rapping and would take him with him to Hollis, Queens, to hang out and record. There, he met Anntex, founder of Tuff City Records, who would release El-P’s first record, entitled Juvenile Technique. He was just 17 years old at the time, but the tape would garner praise from legendary radio hosts Stretch and Bobbito. El-P would also hire Mr. Len, his eventual Company Flow collaborator, to DJ his 17th birthday party, and the two became fast friends and music partners.

1994-1995

El-P and Mr. Len connected with rapper Bigg Jus and officially formed the group Company Flow. Initially, the trio worked privately on their craft, forging an identity as a prolific, burgeoning rap group.

In 1995, Killer Mike, while attending Morehouse College, would meet the producer crew The Beat Bullies. Then, through them, he would connect with James Patton, an early collaborator and the younger brother of Big Boi of OutKast. This would, of course, lead to Mike’s eventual affiliation with OutKast and the legendary Atlanta collective, The Dungeon Family. Around this time, Mike also released an independent underground record entitled Slumlord, an underground record featuring James Patton. He recalled, to the website HITS, playing the record to Big Boi in Cee Lo Green’s basement and Big Boi specifically praising his raps.

1996-1997

El-P’s group Company Flow released their debut Funcrusher EP in ‘96, which spurred a label bidding war. The crew would sign to Rawkus Records and release their debut album, naturally titled Funcrusher Plus, in ‘97. It would be the group’s sole full-length album.

1999-2000

El-P and Mr. Len would release an instrumental album, Little Johnny From the Hospitul: Breaks & Instrumentals Vol. 1, on Rawkus, but disputes about label support and finances would cause Company Flow to leave soon after. Within the same year, El-P would form his own label, Definitive Jux, aka Def Jux. The label would release a slew of impactful underground releases in its tenure, including those by rappers Aesop Rock and Cannibal Ox.

After years of artist development with The Dungeon Family, Killer Mike would finally have his breakout moment featuring on OutKast’s 2000 album Stankonia on the record “Snappin & Trappin.” There was no way to listen to his dynamic verse and not have the same reaction as Big Boi in Cee Lo’s basement.

2001-2002

The lead single from Outkast’s 2001 compilation album Big Boi and Dre Present… OutKast, “The Whole World,” featured Killer Mike and even earned him his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. He had arrived, and even one-upped himself the following year, featuring on a multitude of tracks, including two on a Scooby Doo soundtrack and “Poppin Tags” off Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 2.

El-P officially separated himself from the Company Flow imprint and released his solo debut on Def Jux, Fantastic Damage. It was critically lauded and even appeared at No. 198 on the Billboard 200.

2003-2004

Killer Mike would release his solo debut, Monster, in 2003, via a joint partnership with Big Boi’s Purple Ribbon Records and Columbia/Sony Records. The album was highlighted by two dynamic lead singles: “Akshon (Yeah!)” feat. OutKast, which would end up on Madden 2004, and “A.D.I.D.A.S.” feat. Big Boi and Sleepy Brown, which reached No. 60 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. During these two years, Mike also kept his feature streak alive on OutKast, Chamillionaire, and Pastor Troy tracks. Yet, a feature no one could ever forget was also released in 2003 and skyrocketed in 2004. Mike’s verse on Bone Crusher’s “Never Scared” will always be revered as an all-time.

In 2004, El-P and the jazz collective Blue Series Continuum (featuring William Parker, Matthew Shipp and Daniel Carter) released a jazz project called High Water.

2005-2010

In a five-year stretch, El-P went on a tear of album releases via various entities. His range seemed ever-expanding. His Collecting The Kid compilation was released in 2005, his second solo album, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, was released in 2007 to vast commercial success, peaking at 78 on the Billboard 200, and in 2010, El-P’s group, Central Services, released the EP Forever Frozen in Television Time exclusively on a digital download service on the Def Jux website.

Killer Mike was in a bit of an in-between mode from 2005 to 2008. Due to a dispute between Big Boi and Sony, his second album, Ghetto Extraordinary, was indefinitely delayed until Mike himself released it independently with a new title, The Killer, in 2005. Off the heels of this though, Mike embarked on his now legendary I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind series, which featured ferocious raps and two albums released on his own label in 2006 and 2008.

2011-2012

In 2011, as a solo act, El-P signed to Fat Possum Records and released his third solo album Cancer 4 Cure. That same year, Jason DeMarco, the Cartoon Network executive responsible for Adult Swim, introduced Mike and El-P. He got them in a studio session where magic immediately actualized. El-P produced the entirety of Mike’s 2012 statement of an album, R.A.P. Music (released on Williams Street Records). The duo then toured together to support both their albums and their chemistry, combined into as distinct a duo as rap has ever witnessed, Run The Jewels.