Crib Notes

Killer Mike in Kirkwood

KILLER MIKE is a rapper with an agenda, and usually those make for the most focused MCs. In Mike’s case, it makes him one of the best – both in Atlanta and beyond. Representing for the working class, his latest release, I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II, is a precise continuation of the street knowledge he branded on the first installment. Songs such as “Good Bye (City of Dope),” “Pressure” (featuring Ice Cube) and “God in the Building” elevate his standing in hip-hop’s lyrical hierarchy. Killer Kill from Adamsville (as he’s affectionately known) has the storytelling, nonirritating braggadocio and metaphors to make even the most noted lyricist brush up his pen game. www.myspace.com/grindtimeonline. — Jacinta Howard

To view the complete 2008 Best of Atlanta/After Dark critics’ and readers picks, click here.

Photo by Maurice Garland

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These days, with an ascendant progressive hip-hop scene on the horizon, everyone’s talking about Dungeon Family and OutKast again. (Like we ever stopped.) It’s important to remember, though, that while OutKast, Goodie Mob and Organized Noize blew up, most of the crew never really had much success, at least from a sales standpoint. Some will argue that classic yet underperforming singles such as Cool Breeze’s “Watch for the Hook” are all the success you need. Yes, they may be godhead in Atlanta, but to the rest of the world they’re almost famous.

Tonight, prodigal son Killer Mike has a big show at Django, and he’ll perform with Gripplyaz, one of those hotly tipped leaders of the new school. Both will be backed by Atlanta go-go group the X.O. Band. To mark the occasion, here’s a quote from a recent Killer Mike interview with HipHopDx.com that addresses Dungeon Family’s complicated legacy.

Dungeon Family fans got the shit end of the stick for over 10 years. They’ve seen their heroes like Witchdoctor, like Cool Breeze, like Backbone, like Slimm Calhoun, slip into the abyss. They have seen factionalization, they’ve seen disenfranchisement, they’ve seen everything except a glorious comeback. And the fans deserve that.

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Remember Ghetto Extraordinary, that Killer Mike album that was supposed to come out on Columbia Records in 2005? (This was before Purple Ribbon, beef with Big Boi, etc.) Well, hip-hop site HipHopDX.com is offering the album as a free download. It features beats from Andre 3000 and Three 6 Mafia, and guest shots from 8Ball & MJG, Big Boi and Jagged Edge, among others.

Ghetto Extraordinary serves as an appetizer for the new Killer Mike album, I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind Part. 2, which is due in March. The Southern version of Ice Cube (the Amerikkka’s Most Wanted Cube, not the suburban klutz from Are We There Yet?) signed a deal with SMC last fall, a West Coast label best-known for launching California rappers such as Keak da Sneak and Mistah F.A.B. But for now, thanks to the ever-increasing lawlessness of the Internet, what once would have either sat on EMI’s archive shelves for eternity or sold for $80 at record-collectors conventions is available for everyone to enjoy.

You can download Ghetto Extraordinary here.

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