I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind II

URB (p.85) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Killer Mike's rhetoric is really something fierce. His fire and brimstone isn't just smoke and mirrors either, as Mike's bars pack an intellectually angry punch reminiscent of Ice Cube in his prime."

On the speaker-busting "Intro" to his third album, Killer Mike makes his modus operandi clear: "This is meant to be a soundtrack to your success ... Get up, brothers!" From there he's off, unflagging in his mission. Like his obvious template Ice Cube (who guests on the ardent "Pressure") Mike infuses his cut-rate braggadocio about cars and women with an intensity that rarely delves below apoplectic. His motivational creed reflects fellow Atlantan Young Jeezy but his logic is less altruistic, more ironclad, and not subject to dispute. A fire-and-brimstone morality informs his economic world view; haters, demons, and business rivals merge and swirl about the record and the emcee responds, back-to-the-wall, defeat unfathomable. "I hope they hate till their flesh burn and their bones ache," he seethes on "You See It," barely audible over the virulent beat, "I hope to God they see me shining and get so mad they pluck out their eyes." Mike's fury feels metaphysical and absurd: mortals quit jobs, Killer Mike fires his boss. It's a shame that this breathless performance is married to an album less musically adventurous, front-loaded with variation but then settling into a long stretch of merely enjoyable-enough window-rattlers. But even these serve to form a sturdy foundation over which the emcee can unleash his uncompromising talent. ~ Clayton Purdom

アウトキャストから少し距離を置き、独自の路線を歩むキラー・マイクの新作は、2006年に発表した独立作の続編。その流れで自身の率いるグラインド・タイム・ラップ・ギャングの面々を交えつつ、各地からゲストも招いているのだが、特に大統領選の真っ只中を狙うかのようにシリアスな題材を取り上げたアイス・キューブとの合体曲“Pressure”での鉄槌っぷりは凄まじく、それに呼応してキューブもハードにスピット。8ボール&MJGとのサザン・フレイヴァーに溢れた“Super Clean／Super Hard”、カミリオネア&メッシー・マーヴとの巧者コラボ“Big Money, Big Cars”といったツワモノとの共演でもまったく引けを取らず、吐き出す言葉の力はさらに凄みを増している。背筋が思わずピンと伸びてしまう超快作だ!
bounce (C)升本 徹