Killer Mike has just dropped "Scientists & Engineers" featuring Andre 3000, Future, and Eryn Allen Kane, from his much-anticipated forthcoming solo album, MICHAEL, due out this Friday (June 16).
Killer Mike recently talked about the feature at a listening session for the project, admitting that initially, Andre was iffy about whether or not they should release it, though his hesitation vanished once he heard the hook.
On the track, both Andre and Mike are in top form while Future lends an assist to Kane on the hook. Andre soars with a space age verse, rapping lyrics like: "All I know is when the portrait paintеd, better have your portion of thе rent/A dollar more and you will get upgraded when you've think you've made it, you are then-Just tolerated, overrated, hope I'm eighty when I get my second wind..."
Mike goes off at the end of the song, with a longer verse. He details the ills of America, trying to avert them, and ultimately leaning into his vision to see his way above the ceilings created for people like him, as he shouts out Master P: "The world got no mercy, so I had to show 'em/Like Percy with me, it just can't be no limit/A hundred percentage authentic, see I got no gimmicks, so I ain't protectin' no image/My style original, pivotal, it's goin' digital, niggas you like is a mimic..."
Tying the song together, they both reference jazz greats, with Mike name-dropping Thelonious Monk while Andre shouts out Duke Ellington.
"Scientists & Engineers” is Andre 3000's first feature since his incredible appearance on Kanye West's “Life of the Party" in 2021. Andre 3000 and Killer Mike's relationship runs deep, and stretches back to the late 90s. Mike won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance Duo or Group for his 2001 collaboration with OutKast, "The Whole World."
Mike kicks off his High & Holy tour in July. MICHAEL arrives on June 16.