Killer Mike - I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind

People say hip hop isn’t the same these days, it lost the edge that was once the cornerstone of the genre. There’s still political rappers, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna waste my time listening to Immortal Technique (sorry I just can’t get with his holier than thou attitude). On the flip side tho, [...]

People say hip hop isn’t the same these days, it lost the edge that was once the cornerstone of the genre. There’s still political rappers, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna waste my time listening to Immortal Technique (sorry I just can’t get with his holier than thou attitude). On the flip side tho, Killer Mike, like Ice Cube, is bringing back the idea of the hood cat with the razor-sharp political awareness.

This isn’t a political album, and I’m thankful for it. However, the album has a strong socially aware backbone. Killer Mike makes that hip hop that matters, without being a dick about it.

The undisputed highlight of I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind is That’s Life. Seriously give this track a listen. I’m even gonna throw in an audio player here for you:

Listen to this fury. Listen to Mike checking off name after name in his shitlist. Oprah - check. Bush family - check. Bill O’Reilly - check. I’m not even gonna go into some dense journalistic explanation of what’s so fantastic about this track, just listen and you’ll get it.

If we gave star ratings to albums, I would give this album 5 stars instantly off the back of That’s Life. Luckily, the rest of the album is pretty dope also, although not without it’s failings.

I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind starts at a disadvantage for me, because I traditionally dislike double-albums. All Eyez On Me, Life After Death & Wu-Tang Forever are three examples of would-be classics that fall short for one common reason.

Killer Mike’s album unfortunately falls into the same category. I can’t even imagine how incredible this album would be if it were just 13 of the better tracks. As a double album, things get a little patchy here and there, and inconsistency is the issue.

We live in the iPod age however, so turning the double album into a compilation of straight Killer Mike fire isn’t a problem. Coming Home Atlanta, The Juggernaut, Fuck You Pay Me, The Next Bitch, Promise I Will Not Lose, Deuces Wild … the list goes on.

I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind drops in the US on October 31. Do the damn thing and support that real raw.