Killer Mike I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind

Is ATL Rapper Really a Dope MC

Aug 7, 2008

It's already been established that Killer Mike is a great MC. The question is: Is his new album enough to catapult him into mainstream status?

The former Outkast disciple released his third solo album “I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind II” on July 8, 2008. It was net with mediocre critical praise but does that negate the rapid-fire rhymer’s place in the game?

Killer Mike Album Review

On the album’s first full track (an intro precedes) “10G’s” Killer Mike unleashes his “double time flow” on a chopped and screwed Biggie sample. “OK yeah, like most black males/I done made my fair share of crack sales/how could you not want to se me prevail/how could you wanna see me locked in jail?/how could you ignore my people in hell?/in Adamsville, in Mechanicsville/how could you take all our honor and jobs/and expect us not to steal and to rob/…/so we took the crack and put it in rap/now your kids is high off that.”

He then links up with West Coast icon Ice Cube for the vicious track “Pressure.” Despite being a sharp contrast to Mike’s usual production sound, the track is still a banger.

Mike then takes it to one of the album’s most noticeable tracks “Big Money, Big Cars” with Chamillionaire.

Mike uses “God Is In The Building” to call out some of the game’s frauds and (of course) extend praise to himself. “god emcee boy, ex d-boy/only thing real in a room full of decoys/angel wings got a nigga fly higher/I hope my success burn you life hellfire/I hope seeing me with cars dressed fresh, torments your *ss like a man possessed.”

On “That’s Life” Mike uses his lyrical prowess to tell listeners how to get money instead of flaunting it like a lot of his Southern counterparts. “Ask you a question, how you finna go to bed right now when you gonna wake up in the morning broke? How you gonna got to bed right now knowing that your kids are gonna wake up hungry?/Get about your money man, if you knew better you would do better man. If you know how much you was worth you would ask for more than you get. You understand me?”

He closes the LP with “City of Dope.” Eerily similar to Outkast’s “Da Art Of Storytelling,” the track foes a great job of living up to it’s inspiration.

Although “I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind” is a strong album, it doesn’t quite live up to Killer Mike’s potential. But are the tracks strong? Yes. Does it offer anything new to the established Killer Mike fan? No.

“I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind” Track Listing

The question now becomes: Most of the album’s strongest songs feature guest appearances. Can Killer Mike (and a lot of other rappers) really carry a whole album by himself?

The copyright of the article Killer Mike I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind in Rap/Hip Hop Music is owned by Erin T. McMillon . Permission to republish Killer Mike I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.