Rapper Killer Mike, who forms one half of the hip hop duo Run The Jewels, stated that he will be defying Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s order to lift stay-at-home restrictions by keeping his barbershops in the state closed. The state has 20,000 confirmed cases and 836 deaths, caused by the virus, according to Consequence of Sound.

“Our first concern is the safety of our employees and the safety of our customers,” the rapper explained in an interview with TMZ. “And we have an incentive to open, we could use that incentive, and we definitely wanna make money. [But] at this time, as a business, we aren’t comfortable opening. We’re gonna wait a while before we reopen.”

Killer Mike also stated that the disproportionate amount of African-American deaths associated with COVID-19 also influenced his decision to keep the shops closed. “As a citizen in the community where people look like me, I’m choosing to stay closed because I don’t want to endanger [anybody],” Mike stated. “And a lot of times, politicians have different views of things. I think governors and mayors should all get on the phone together because as your constituents, we need you to do that.”

Run The Jewels stated that they would be dropping their fourth studio album before Coachella this year, however it should be noted that this announcement occurred prior to the fest’s rescheduling to this fall. The band have released the singles “Yankee And The Brave,” and “Ooh LA LA” alongside DJ Premier and Greg Nice of Nice & Smooth earlier this year.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat