This album was released on May 17th in 2011. It’s the last entry in Killer Mike’s I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind trilogy. I was kind of disappointed by the second album in the series, so I’m hoping this one will show some improvement. I really have no expectations for this project though. I’ve never heard anyone talk about it. As a matter of fact, the only solo Killer Mike album that anyone seems to care about is R.A.P. Music, so I’m looking forward to checking that out after this one. I’m sure this’ll have some good songs on it too though.

1. So Glorious produced by Smiff & Cash

The production on this track is really dope. It has a triumphant, almost celebratory sound. It doesn’t have that mainstream, Trap sound that a lot of the other tracks probably will. I really like the way the song is structured. There’s no bridge or hook or anything like that. Mike is rapping the whole time. It’s just one long verse. It’s really good. I honestly don’t have a single gripe with this track. This is a really good way to open the album up. This shit is dope af.

2. That’s Life II produced by Smiff & Cash

This track is obviously a sequel to the song That’s Life, which appeared on the first Pledge album. The beat on this song is cool. It’s a little bouncier than that of the previous track. The lyrics are very political in a super aggressive way. I’m glad he threw that line about Glenn Beck in there. That dude is a fucking piece of shit. The hook on this song is pretty average, but it gets the job done I guess. It sounds like it’s performed by T.I., but I don’t know if it’s actually him. I like how Mike goes into his views on religion on the second verse. This is a really entertaining song lyrically. The third verse is really dope. He called out Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity, who are all stupid as fuck. I think this is a good song. I don’t like it quite as much as the previous track, but it’s still entertaining. This is dope.

3. Ric Flair produced by Sweatbox Productions

This song flips the same sample as Morning Sex by Joey Purp. I really like the beat. It’s great. The first verse from Mike isn’t anything special, but it’s certainly not bad. There’s not really a hook. The verses are just split up by samples of Ric Flair talking shit. The third verse was cool. I don’t really have anything to say about this track honestly. I think it’s pretty good. The beat is dope, and the verses are all cool. Nothing about this track really blows me away, but I definitely enjoyed it. This is dope to me.

4. Ready Set Go featuring T.I. produced by No I.D.

Huh. This beat is kinda weird. It’s dope as fuck though. It’s got this weird vocal sample in another language, and a lot of heavy bass. It sounds really good. The hook from T.I. is nothing special, but it works. The first verse from Killer Mike was dope. He sounds mean as hell. The second verse wasn’t as entertaining to me, but it was still pretty good. It’s pretty disappointing that T.I. didn’t have a verse. This song came out around the time that he dropped that No Mercy album though, so a verse from him might not have even been that good. Anyway, I think this is probably the best song on the album so far. The production is really great, and the verses from Killer Mike are good too. This is dope af.

5. Burn featuring Funkadelic produced by Sweatbox Productions

Huh. I definitely wasn’t expecting to see Funkadelic on this project. I don’t really care for the hook from them honestly. It doesn’t sound that good to me. The first verse from Mike was alright. The second verse was super woke. The verses on this track are all only about 8 bars long, but there are four of them. I like this song lyrically—especially the part at the end of the final verse where he talks about how he’s gonna burn a church down—but it just isn’t that entertaining to me sonically. I didn’t care for the feature from Funkadelic, and the production isn’t that good to me. This is an okay song. I don’t think it’s bad, but I’m never gonna listen to it again.

6. Go Out on the Town featuring Jeezy produced by Beat Billionaire

Huh… I’m uh… I’m not really feelin’ this sung hook from T.I.; it’s super generic. It sounds like something that would’ve come out in the mid-2000s. The beat is pretty generic too. The first verse from Killer Mike is alright I guess. He didn’t really say anything that interesting. It sounds like a typical mainstream Rap song from the 2000s. His second verse didn’t impress me. His flow was decent I guess. The more I listen to this hook the more I hate it. Jeezy’s verse was average as fuck. This is easily the worst song on the album so far. The hook from T.I. pissed me the fuck off, the production was generic, and neither Killer Mike nor Jeezy had anything interesting to say. This shit is wack to me.

7. God in the Building II produced by The Beat Bullies

Apparently this is the song that made El-P wanna start working with Killer Mike. The production on this track is fantastic, and I actually like the uncredited female vocals on the hook. The first verse from Mike is really dope. The second verse was even better honestly. I see why El-P liked this song so much. It’s actually really fucking good. The production is awesome, the guest vocalist did a really great job, and Killer Mike made a religious song without coming off like a Jesus freak. I have no problems with this song honestly. This shit is dope af.

8. Player’s Lullaby featuring Rock D the Legend & Twista produced by Tha Bizness

The beat on this track is really good. The hook from Rock D is pretty simplistic, but he sounds really good. I don’t know who that is singing on the hook, but it doesn’t sound too bad. The content of this song isn’t really for me honestly. He’s basically just rapping about fucking somebody else’s girl. None of the verses on this song are bad. Rock D did his thing on the third verse, and Twista came in right behind him with a pretty nice closing verse. His flow was great as always. I definitely enjoyed this song to a certain extent. It’s far from my favorite track though. I probably wouldn’t even like it if the beat wasn’t so good. I think this is an entertaining track overall though. I fuck with it.

9. Animal featuring Gucci Mane produced by Zone Beatz

Oh fucking shit… This beat… This beat is hard as FUCK. The first verse from Killer Mike wasn’t amazing or anything, but I enjoyed it. The hook is pretty simplistic, but I like it. It’s kind of hard to take seriously with the elephant noises and lion’s roaring in the background. Gucci Mane’s verse was fucking terrible. It’s not wack enough to completely ruin the song though. Honestly, none of the verses on this track are that great. I still enjoyed the track overall though. I feel the same way about this track as I did with the previous one. If the beat wasn’t as good as it is I probably wouldn’t ever wanna hear this song again. It’s dope though. I fuck with this track.

10. American Dream Prelude produced by Sweatbox Productions

This is pretty much an interlude in which Killer Mike yells about America. As you can see from the title, it’s the intro to the full song. I really don’t think this needed to be its own track. He didn’t need to separate it. I guess it doesn’t really matter though. I’m never gonna listen to this again.

11. American Dream produced by Sweatbox Productions

The hook on this song is pretty boring, but it works I guess. The production isn’t that impressive to me. The first verse is fine I guess, although he rhymed the word “shackled” with “shackle.” Oh shit. The song just ended. It feels abnormally short. The second verse is only like 8 bars. The track is just over two minutes long. This is an okay song I guess. I wouldn’t call it bad. I definitely don’t think it’s good though. Nothing about it stands out in a positive way. It’s a pretty underwhelming track. The fact that he felt the need to give this song a separate intro made me think it was gonna be a lot more attention grabbing than it actually is. I’m never gonna listen to this again. It’s decent though I guess.

12. Everything (Hold You Down) produced by Sweatbox Productions

Hmmm… This is a love song in which Killer Mike raps about how he wants to buy his significant other “everything.” It’s a little too sappy for me. I know I’ve heard this sample in another song, but I can’t remember which one. Hmm… Oh, I remember now. It’s the same sample that was used in the song White Dress by Kanye West. I like the beat on this song. I don’t really care for the sung hook though. There’s an uncredited female vocalist. She doesn’t have a bad voice. I definitely like this song more than the previous one, but I still don’t see myself coming back to it. It’s far from a bad song. It’s just not really for me. It’s okay.

13. Follow Your Dreams produced by DJ Speedy

Ugh… This sung hook is not good… I don’t know who that is singing, but it’s wack. The beat’s not bad though. I like it. Killer Mike sounds good on the first verse too. I kinda wish he didn’t use the same flow for the second verse though. It gets old pretty quickly. The song just ended. Huh. Yeah, I’m not gonna listen to this again. My main issue with this song is definitely the hook. The verses are fine, and I kinda like the beat. The song as a whole just isn’t very good to me though. It’s not trash. It’s just not that entertaining. I’m never gonna listen to this again.

14. Swimming featuring Rock D the Legend produced by Flying Lotus

Wow. I definitely wasn’t expecting to see Flying Lotus working with Killer Mike. Hmm… Wait a minute… I know I’ve heard this beat before… Yeah, this isn’t an original instrumental. It was on that Pattern+Grid World EP that FlyLo dropped in 2010. It’s a song called Camera Day. That’s actually my favorite track from the EP, so it’s cool that Mike rapped over it. The beat is amazing. Killer Mike sounds really good over it. I don’t know who that is singing the hook, but I actually like it. The third verse from Rock D the Legend is pretty solid too. The content isn’t that interesting to me, but I think they executed it well. They’re rapping about “swimming in women.” It’s not that interesting. The song as a whole sounds great though. This is one of the best songs on the album. It’s dope af.

15. Ready Set Go (Remix) featuring Big Boi & T.I. produced by No I.D.

I’m not gonna say too much about this song since it’s just a remix. The only difference is an additional verse from Big Boi. It would’ve been cool if T.I. got a verse for the remix, but that didn’t happen. Out of all the songs for Killer Mike to remix, I’m glad he chose this one. Big Boi sounds great over this beat. It actually kinda reminds me of Kill Jill, which appeared on his 2017 album, Boomiverse. He definitely has the best verse on this song. Anyway, I think this is one of the best songs on the album. I don’t have any problems with it. It’s dope af.

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This is a good album. It’s definitely flawed, but I think it’s the best project Killer Mike had released up until this point in his career. It got off to a really good start, so I kinda thought this album was gonna be better than it ended up being, but it’s still pretty enjoyable overall. However, I don’t really think Killer Mike was slaughtering verses left and right on this project like he was on the RTJ albums. A lot of the songs were pretty average lyrically. There are exceptions though. Anyway, I enjoyed this project. It’s dope.

Favorite Song: God in the Building II
Least Favorite Song: Go Out on the Town

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