“I want this to be more than good music to you. I hope it’s inspiration for you.” And with that, on the second to last track of his fifth album, Atlanta rapper Killer Mike expresses an important message to not only his listeners but to the rap community in general. Yes, struggling rapper. You too can write a song about following your dreams and have it not sound hopelessly mawkish. You too can unapologetically inject ideology into your songs, give honest and thoughtful criticisms of politics and religion and still have people listen to you. And you too can place those songs next to club bangers like the T.I.-helmed “Ready Set Go” and make it sound fluid. You too can tailor your beats to your featured guests and keep your identity intact. Hell, even you too can emulate a Lex Lugar beat, have Gucci Mane rap over it and still have it be a good song. And you too can do all these things and still overcome the blatant double standard of featuring a song that glorifies wives cheating on their husbands. You too can make an excellent album as sprawling as Pl3dge. You might not do it as well as Killer Mike does, but there’s certainly no harm in trying.
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