“All I got is a high school diploma/ Which means I’m qualified to rap, sell crack or marijuana,” Killer Mike announces on the depressing “Mama Said”—not the kind of thing you hear from most Grammy winners. But this gusty Georgia rapper, whose award came for his verse on Outkast’s “The Whole World,” is anything but predictable. Mike’s excellent sophomore disc traffics in sparse, trunk-slamming beats and his own contradictions: The exasperated, dirge-like “Bad Day Worse Day” hates on everything from church to Andre 3000’s acting, while “Doin’ It Well” and “Leave This Hood” are fluttery, lovey-dovey reminiscences. Whether fun-seeking (“My Chrome”) or feeling blue (the brilliantly wheezy “Niggas Down South”), Mike’s moving a product his young peers can’t supply: pathos to match the killer persona.

DOWNLOAD: “My Chrome,” “Bad Day Worse Day,” “Get ’Em Shawty”