isbell@athena.mit.edu (Charles L Isbell) (06/20/91)
What up, homey?
I'm in here, livin' hard but large.
Still another review from the hardest working reviewer in the business.
This time: _OG Original Gangster_ by Ice-T
Next time: _The Valley of the Jeep Beets_ by Terminator X
Catch Ups: _Seminar_ by Sir MixALot
and...
_To The Extreme_ by Vanilla Ice
(I've decided to make Vanilla Extract a Catch Up review
since I shoulda dissed him a long time ago.)
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Distinctiveness: Over middlin'.
Dopeness Rating: Extremely, superly, especially stupid-super-hype-dope.
I am overwhelmed by the doptitude that has been spun on wax.
Rap Part: Really, really dopedope+.
Sounds: Really, really dopedope+.
Message: Street tough politics.
Tracks: Not just 24 tracks and not just 73 minutes, but 24 hype
tracks and 73 kickin' minutes.
Profanity: Oh, just tons. Dad'll listen to it with you.
Back in the day, before the current glut of rappers from South Central
LA rappin' about the streets and the f*ckin' cops, there was the Original
Gangsta: Ice-T. In 1987, my man released his first album, _Rhyme Pays_
with his DJ Evil E. It was a pretty interesting mix of fun and
seriousness. Whatever it was, it seemed to capture the Street.
Ice followed his first album with _Power_, a somewhat softer edge--but
still gansta--album and _Freedom of Speech--Just Watch What You Say_.
Along the way he distinguished himself as someone different
than NWA or even Ice Cube. He says he is from the streets and
was in the gang, but he got out of that and he wants everyone else
to follow him. As such, he's appeared on everything from Donahue
to Oprah, talking about everything from gang violence to Tipper Gore
and the censorship hounds, sharing the stage (and a few tracks) with
Jello Biafra. More recently, your boy has appeared in New Jack City,
co-starring as a cop, of all things. He was credible, tho' not
brillant.
I've always like Ice-T as a man with style. I do have all of his albums,
but I've never been overwhelmed by more than a few songs on any of them.
I have kept buying him because there was always some good stuff from homey
and I was sure that eventually he was going to live up to his potential.
Well, guess what, homeless? He has. I must snatch the Surprised Me
With A Come Back Award for 1991 from LL Cool J and replace it with
the Surprised The hell Outta ME With One of the Dopest Offerings of
1991 Award and place it next to: _O.G. Original Gansta_ by Ice-T.
This album is not just good, it is kickin' and kickin' hard. If you've
liked Ice T before, go out and buy it now--it will quickly become
your favorite Ice T offering. If you've been sorta up in the air about
him, stop worrying about it and plop down the bank. If you've hated him
since birth, it's time to give homeboy another listen.
This is hype. This is hard edged and just plain DOPE. Have I riffed
yet? No, of course not.
We open with two intros: "Home of the Bodybag" and "First Impression."
The former is an instrumental that manages to mention a lot of the songs
he's done in the last four years while the latter is a dissertation from
an obviously highbrow female. I really like the sounds behind "Home of
the Bodybag." "First Impression" is just funny.
"...he is the epitome of antiestablishmentarianism...."
Onward to the CD. "Ziplock" is a short offering, with a rhythm
that's fairly indicative of much of the album. We follow that with "Mic
Contract." This is pretty good stuff.
"The only way I sleep is in a cold sweat.
You think I'm crazy? You ain't seen sh*t yet."
"What's up? You want your feet in concrete?
I know some brothers who'll do you for your gold teeth."
I find myself in the same situation as I did while reviewing PE's
stuff. As before, everything is dope unless I say otherwise, okay?
"Mind Over Matter" returns us to some of that Ice-T we all know from
yesteryear. He drops the hard edged a bit for something a bit closer
to "Power" or "High Roller" except there's more background noise. He's
still jammin'.
"Grab the pen and place it on some loose leaf.
Nothin' soft, always the tough meat.
The white paper and blue lines excite my mind
not allowin' me to stop the rhyme
until the whole motherf*ckin' book's complete.
Then I write on the back of the sheets."
There's no pause between this and "New Jack Hustler," Ice's first
release and the current hit from _New Jack City_. Everyone's heard
this, so I shouldn't have to say too much. But to give you an idea of
the rest of the album: the lyrics are pretty representative, but the
sounds on this track, while being nice, don't reach the level of
dopitivity of other tracks on _OG_.
"I care nothin' about you and that's evident
All I love is my dope and dead presidents
Sound crazy? Well it isn't
The end justifies the means--that's the system.
I learned that in school then I dropped out."
"Wrong move (Bang) ambulance cot.
I gotta get more money than you got
So what if some other Brother gets shot
That's how the game is played
Another brother slayed
the wound is deep, you're givin' us a bandaid."
We are treated to a short story about "Ed" before getting to "Bitches 2."
When I heard the intro, I thought to myself "uh-oh." Well, wasn't I
pleasantly surprised? This is not what I thought it would be.
"But now he's married and he kicks his wife's ass.
Says it comes from problems in the past.
Doesn't like Blacks, claims he's upper class.
Joined the police, got himself a badge.
Now he rolls the streets and he's out to jack
doggin' young Brothers 'cause they usually don't fight back.
...yo how'd he go out? He went out like a b*tch."
"Imma do it Ice, Imma do it Ice,
No you're not 'cause
Some of you niggas are b*tches 2"
"I wouldn't even hit you with my fist
I'd just smack the sh*t outta ya 'cause
Some of you niggas are b*tches 2"
Yes, well. After learning what a b*tch is, we discover exactly why
Ice T refers to himself as a Nigga in "Straight Up Nigga."
"Black people might get mad
'Cause they don't see
that they're looked upon
as a nigga just like me."
"America was stole from the Indians
Show and prove--what was that?
A straight up nigga move.
A low down shame
Yo it's straight insane
Yet they complain when a nigga
snatches their gold chains
What is a nigga supposed to do?
Wait around for a handout from a nigga like you?"
This leads us to the title track. The sounds are somewhere between
his newer harder sound and his more relaxed stuff. It's still dope.
"When I wrote about parties
someone always died
When I tried to write happy
Yo I knew I lied."
"Last week in a crack war
hostages tied up and shot in a liquor store
Nobody gives a f*ck.
'The children have to go to school'
Well, moms good luck."
Then Ice decides to depress me this short track about some battered
children. "The House" is tastefully done. This is followed by another
short track called "Evil E--what about sex?" wherein Evil E chastises
Ice T for not dropping any rhymes about sex. That's funny.
"The Fly By" guest stars Nat The Cat and Grandmaster Caz as well as
Donald D. This is okay, but not very dope.
"And if you think you have an S on your chest
You'd better wear two vests."
"The cops hate me and they outta
before my crew gets to their daughters."
The we gets treated to some old style thump thump with "Midnight," the
prequel to "6 In The Mornin'" from _Rhyme Pays_. I love it.
"Why would they step when they know we're strapped?
I never cruise LA without a gat in my lap."
"Fried Chicken" follows with some short silliness as Ice T and Evil E
try to figure out how to get this static-y record on tape. "MVP's"
is Ice T's thank-you-you're-in-my-posse track. Interestingly,
he ends this track with a shout to MC Household Tool:
"A lot of people dis you man--they're just jealous.
F*ck 'em."
That may be true, Ice, but I personally just think that he's whack.
You and I can still hang out tho'.
"Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous" is Ice T's discussion of life on tour.
He does a much less whiny version of this, I think, than my boyz from
De La Soul. Mind you, I'm still down with the Soul, but Ice seems a
lot less petty to the casual listener.
"Ten Brothers standin' in the hallway
all with demo tapes
They need the hook up
They heard that I was the one to look up.
I try to ditch them but they already saw me.
I'll put my head down, maybe they'll ignore me."
"Body Count" is a track featuring a rock group that Ice T's put
together. Well, I have nothing against hard rock, and in fact
I even like some of it; however, this just didn't move me, at least
musically. The Intelligent Gangsta and Atomic Playboy, kwatsi@athena,
claims they start off with a sound like old Queensryche before getting
into this thrash stuff. I wouldn't know. I just know that this
particular instance doesn't move me. Sorry, homey. Mind you, it
doesn't suck wind, it just loses it in the middle somewhere.
"I wonder what it would be like
to live some place like, y'know,
the Cosby Show or Ozzie and Harriet.
You know where cops came and got your cat
outta the tree and all your friends died of old age?
But you see, I live in South Central Los Angeles
And unfortunately SH*T AINT LIKE THAT"
"Prepared to die" is a short a capella track, a perfect lead in to
"Escape From The Killing Fields."
"Yo Evil man, I'm tired of this sh*t.
I'm ready to get the f*ck out.
You with it? (Yo, I'm wit it).
I gotta get out. Yo homeboy, you wit it?
(Naw man) Well, f*ck you then--I'm gettin' out"
"'Yo man it sounds like you sellin' out to me.
'Cause I'm from the ghetto man,
I'm supposed to stay in the ghetto all my life
We ain't never supposed to leave here.
We're Black. We're supposed to be poor.'
Shut up fool do you know how dumb you sound?
That mentality keeps my people down
No one wants to live in an urban war
You live there 'cause your parents were poor.
They live there 'cause theirs were also
Get yourself together--hit the gates bro."
This is followed by "Street Killer." This is a very short
snapshot of the toughest street killer in the city. I like it.
"Pulse of the Rhyme" slows the sounds a bit. It's a bit off, I think,
but that's just relative to the rest of the dopeness therein. "The Tower"
returns us to higher dopitvity, using a Black Sabbath sample
throughout. This is a track about prison and who really has the power.
Interesting stuff. A nice way to round out the musical offerings
on the CD.
We end with "Ya Shoulda Killed Me Last Year." Ice T finshed the
album on January 15 and shares his thoughts on the impending war
as well as a whole bunch of things. It seems off the cuff and
real, as opposed to rehearsed.
"F*ck the police, f*ck the FBI,
f*ck the DEA, f*ck the CIA,
f*ck Tipper Gore, Bush
and his crippled b*tch.
This is Ice-T--I'm outta here.
I told ya, ya shoulda killed me last year."
Well, I said it before and I'll say it again:
This album is not just good, it is kickin' and kickin' hard. If you've
liked Ice T before, go out and buy it now--it will quickly become
your favorite Ice T offering. If you've been sorta up in the air about
him, stop worrying about it and plop down the bank. If you've hated him
since birth, it's time to give homeboy another listen.
But that's just one Black man's opinion--what's yours?
Peace.
"If George Washington didn't get independence for this country
nonviolently, and if Patrick Henry didn't come up with a
nonviolent statement, and you taught me to look up to them as
patriots and heroes, then it's time for you to realize that I've
learned your books well."
- Malcolm X
--
Don't just adopt opinions, | \ / | Charles Lee Isbell
develop them. | \/ | Homeboy from hell, living axiom and
------------------------------| /\ | anonymous absolute ruler of the cosmos
MIT has no opinions to adopt. | / \ | isbell@athena.mit.edu, isbell@ai.mit.edu