The coronavirus outbreak has hit the state of Georgia especially hard with over 20,000 confirmed cases and 836 deaths. Yet, beginning Friday, businesses across the state will be allowed to re-open after Governor Brian Kemp lifted stay-at-home restrictions.
One small business owner isn’t ready to open just yet, however. In a new interview with TMZ, Killer Mike said that he would be keeping his chain of barbershops closed for the foreseeable future. “Our first concern is the safety of our employees and the safety of our customers,” the Run the Jewels MC explained. “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.”
Specifically, Killer Mike cited the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has on black people as one of the reasons he’s keeping 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 added. “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.”
Killer Mike and his wife opened their first barbershop — The Swag Shop — in 2011. They later opened a second location at Atlanta’s Phillips Arena in 2018.
Presumambly, Killer Mike is using his time in quarantine to put the finishing touches on Run the Jewels’ fourth studio album, which is set to “arrive soon.”
