i'm a fan of the pledge series but i didn't really like Pledge 3 that much. beats didn't stand out to me that much and save 2-3 tracks (American Dream, Burn) he didn't really capture my attention that much. That's Life 2 and God In The Building 2 weren't bad but they seemed a little forced to me.
this one on the other hand, production sounded like something fresh and Killer Mike seemed more focused than on Pledge 3 and i think it has something to do with having one producer for the whole album. It seems like a lot of times when there's one beatmaker for a whole project, or even if it's a couple of beatmakers, having one main producer providing the bulk of the album and overseeing the project (and maybe directing the guest beatmakers to tailor their beats to the vision) seems to work best. it gives a certain continuity and cohesiveness. and in turn i think it helps the rapper get more focused. the mixing also came out pretty well. a slight problem i had with the Pledge series is that sometimes it seemed like certain sounds or vocals weren't mixed right although ironically Pledge 3 which i wasn't feeling as much had a better mix in my opinion.
anyway, this is my favorite Killer Mike album so far and best album of the year so far. my only complaint about the beats is that there is this one sound (sounds like some sort of warped synth/bass, the one that sounds like the beginning of "9th Wonder" by Digable planets) that El-P kinda overdosed on at times. but after that, El-P really impressed me. he impressed me so much i had to check out some of his other work. What i've noticed when i compared this album to his other projects is that the other ones, the beats are more "free". he goes way more to the left with them and they seem more "improvised' and raw. it's a slightly different style because on R.A.P. Music, his style seems more focused and less abstract. and it's more melodic too. it's not necessarely better or worse. just different but i admit i prefer his style on the Killer Mike project. but i really enjoyed "I'll Sleep When You're Dead" though...
my main point with this post is that it seems like albums with one main producer are in general more inspired and better (if the producer brings his A-Game of course). ask anyone to think of their favorite albums and chances are, a lot of them have one producer/beatmaker or at least one main squad.
