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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

O.G. Original Gangster

Ice T

1991

O.G. Original Gangster
Album Summary

O.G. Original Gangster is the fourth studio album by American rapper Ice-T, released May 14, 1991 by Sire Records. Recording took place from July 1990 to January 1991 in Los Angeles, California. Its production was handled by seven producers: Afrika Islam, Beatmaster V, Bilal Bashir, DJ Aladdin, Nat The Cat, SLJ and Ice-T himself, who also served as executive producer. It features guest appearances from Body Count, Prince Whipper Whip and various Rhyme Syndicate artists, such as Donald D, Evil E and Randy Mac. The album peaked at number 15 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number 9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. On July 24, 1991, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, indicating U.S. sales of more than 500,000 units. O.G. Original Gangster was ranked at #25 in Melody Maker's list of the top 30 albums of 1991, and was featured in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums and the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album was praised by many as his best.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.99

Votes

7065
Genres
Hip Hop

Reviews

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Thu Feb 24 2022
5

Upon initial contact with Ice-T's music, I had envisioned him to be an ill-mannered and psychologically unstable man with an extremely uneducated and barbaric frame of mind, whose raps displayed nothing but ridiculous jargon, shocking sexual audacity and repulsive images of the ghetto. However, after further analysis of his music I can deduce that he is the epitome of antidisestablishmentarianism who embodies the entire spectrum of the urban experience and struggle. But to make things more plain and simple to the layman, I find Ice-T to be the dopest, flyist, O.G. pimp hustler gangster player hardcore motherfucker living today. To be honest I'm totally and irrevocably on his dick

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Thu Mar 18 2021
4

Below is a list of the musical Ices in order of preference: 1. Ice Cube 2. Ice T 3. Vanilla Ice

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Mon Apr 11 2022
5

Bangers and the guy is really funny as well. I'm not a big fan of skits in albums, but "First Impression" made me exhale through my nose. Very long. "Body Count" is a straight up rock song, "The Tower" samples the Halloween theme song?! This album just goes everywhere at once.. in a good way. I always thought that ICE-T was garbage, probably because Vanilla Ice soiled every ice-based rapper for me by association. The best rap album I've had so far - 5/5.

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Sat Aug 07 2021
2

Stop recommending me rap albums. I don't like rap albums

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Sun Oct 17 2021
1

Two ICE T in a week. That's enough ICE T to make kombucha taste good.

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Thu Mar 24 2022
5

This album is hilarious -- the woman doing the critical analysis is great. I also like the music; I feel like my tastes in rap were formed in this era, so this stuff just sounds right to me. Body Count rules

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Thu Aug 04 2022
1

This is why I have an aversion to hop hop and rap music

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Thu Jan 26 2023
1

I was not excited to see O.G. Original Gangster come up in my recommendations. I have no interest in listening to someone else's anger, bragging, and chest-thumping. I'm sure "being tough" has probably worked out well for Ice T, but I don't need to hear about it. His acting carerr has given him a place to keep the tough-guy thing going. Ice T's rhymes are moderate, but even when he gets an interesting rhythm going the lyrics range between bleh and solidly landing in exactly what I don't want to listen to. The video for "New Jack Hustler (Nino's Theme)" is a concise example of why I don't like Ice-T: trying to impress by talking about money and cars, the surrounding people trying to create an atmosphere to impress, and a gold chain with gold gun on his neck. Both Ice T and I can admit that this record was not written for me. I was happy when this record was over.

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Thu Jan 07 2021
5

Ah this is one of my favourite rap albums ever, maybe my actual fav. imo it's Ice's best outside the BC stuff. 5/5.

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Wed Feb 09 2022
5

A great album. The songs are memorable and Ice T nails it. I really enjoyed it. This is a rap album so it does not have Ice T's must controversial song Cop Killer because that is by his heavy metal group. I am not sure if there will be more Ice T on the list. I hope so.

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Sat Mar 06 2021
4

Liekkö Law & Order pehmittänyt minun sydämen, mutta pidin tästä levystä. Ei edelleenkään minun musaa, mutta tykkään Ice-T:n tavasta räpätä. Sen verran rauhallisesti sylkee riimejä, että ainakin minulle toimii paremmin kuin nopeampi englanninkielinen räpäytys. Ja ehdottomasti Body Count tallentui soittolistalle.

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Thu Apr 27 2023
4

Wow, was surprised that this showed up in the list and all I can think about is the blending of the OG Ice-T and his band Body Count had a lot to do with its placement here. Sure, there's a long history of rap artists collaborating with mainstream music to broaden their appeal -- Run DMC and Aerosmith (Walk This Way), Public Enemy and Anthrax (Bring Tha Noise, though I'm not sure Anthrax was ever considered mainstream), or The Fat Boys collaborating with The Beach Boys (Wipeout) all fall into this category. The difference here is that Ice-T was fronting Body Count. Body Count, for a minute, even eclipsed Ice-T's career as a rapper especially when the track Cop Killer was removed from future pressings of the self-titled release. Beyond that, It doesn't hurt that the hottest track on this album was the theme song from the much-hyped Mario Van Peebles film New Jack City. New Jack Hustler is the go-to track on the album and IMHO overshadows the real star of the album, Fly By. Nat the Cat drops some tongue-twisted lines in rapid succession that should not go unnoticed. Also worth mentioning is that somehow, the fact that Ice-T is / was a rapper has eluded contemporary culture as he's now known more for his SVU work (and also this great bit by John Mulaney) than as a rapper and musician ... https://youtu.be/F1sd4CRcaE0?t=75

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Thu Apr 22 2021
3

Decent album. Music and lyrics were interesting, better than I was expecting. Clever wording and a mix of serious and funny. Sound got old quick though and album got boring. Could have been 1/2 an hour shorter.

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Thu Mar 18 2021
3

Unfortunately, I tested positive for Covid 19 today, so I wasn't really concentrating on this. I remember it being a dope ass motherfucker of an album when I first heard it though.

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Mon Jul 19 2021
3

Bien que mes parents aient été deux gangsters influents de la côte ouest des Etats-Unis, je n'ai à aucun moment retrouvé les sons ni les odeurs de mon enfance lors de l'écoute de ce projet.

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Sun Jan 15 2023
2

Je propose que l'on oublie collectivement l'existence du gangsta rap, qui m'aime me suive

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Fri May 14 2021
5

Ice T is the g.o.a.t always will be.

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Sun May 23 2021
5

wow blown away by the variety and simultaneous depth of this album

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Mon Jul 26 2021
5

I haven't listened to OG since around when it came out so it was really surprising just how brilliant it is. I was blown away by the lyricism and the consuming beats. Really dang good work.

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Fri Feb 11 2022
5

Muy bien . I love me some Ice T.

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Wed Feb 23 2022
5

Wow.. the flow of the album was amazing. Way better than I expected

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Fri May 20 2022
5

I was really surprised by how much I liked this album it was a bit long but overall really witty and selfaware

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Fri May 20 2022
5

Ice T knows what’s up in every way

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Thu Jun 09 2022
5

Oof this is almost a skip album (the sex song was my least favorite). So many tracks are timeless. This is hard, musically adventurous, artistic… and that last track—incredible end. His voice and lyrics and attitude and intellect are five stars. Iconic album.

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Thu Jul 14 2022
5

BOOM! I put off listening to this until my kids were out of earshot which was a sensible move. But moving beyond the explicit lyrics, this album is absolutely banging! The beats are raw and gripping and Ice-T's raps are on point. I can overlook my unease as a non-black person listening to an album laden with references to a certain word beginning with n, have a 5/5

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Fri Jul 15 2022
5

Compelling. Though the content is clearly violent and dark, it doesn't take a naive or dumb approach even when it is being boastful. It is intelligently written and covers so much ground; does an amazing job of portraying a time and place.

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Thu Aug 11 2022
5

Pretty good, there’s a lot to like here favorite song was probably Midnight, it had a pretty nice, industrial beat even when parts of the album got corny, I was still able to appreciate it it’s a 9/10 for me

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Wed Oct 12 2022
5

Ice T is a GOAT. His rapping is so hard-core, raw, and badass, and his metal shit is also top notch.

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Thu Feb 02 2023
5

Powerful record. Excellent from the start.

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Sat Feb 25 2023
5

Love the metal cross over - enjoy the sarcasm/humor/honesty/angst

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Thu Mar 02 2023
5

Social commentary at its best

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Thu Mar 30 2023
5

Et av de beste hip hop albumene jeg har hørt!

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Thu Mar 30 2023
5

Hustler, word, I pull the trigger long, Grit my teeth, spray till every nigga's gone. Got my block sewn, armored dope spots, Last thing I sweat's a sucka punk cop. Move like a king when I roll, hops, You try to flex, bang, another nigga drops. You gotta deal with this cause there's no way out, Why? Cash money ain't never gonna play out. I got nothin to lose, much to gain, In my brain, I got a capitalist migraine. I gotta get paid tonight, you muthafuckin right. [something] my grip, check my bitch, keep my game tight. So many hos on my jock, think I'm a movie star. Nineteen, I got a fifty thousand dollar car. Go to school, I ain't goin for it, Kiss my ass, bust the cap on the Moet. Cause I don't want to hear that crap, Why? I'd rather be a New Jack-----Hustler Brilliant. 5/5

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Fri Jun 02 2023
5

Was expecting to not like this, thinking it would be the start of gangster rap which kinda ruined the genre for 30 years, but this is actually cool as fuck. Mic Contract is essentially big beat a few years early. Without sounding dated like that whole scene does. As is New Jack Hustler. Well, as are loads of these. The jazz and soul samples and general groove going on here really work for me. Being a pasty white dude means I can't drive around blasting Straight Up N out the window without broadcasting what a bell end I am, but it's a great track. And obviously making me uncomfortable and fuck you I don't care, is the whole point. Then there's a radical change of direction Midnight is epic, whatever the lyrical content of the previous tracks, the music was party time, that party is definitively over now. Mixing Black Sabbath with Led Zep drums and a deeply disturbing story. Absolutely bangs. And then the party starts again. Ok that was weird. Kicking back off with a namecheck song. So look, everything is great. Escape from the Killing Fields in particular. Message. And we round off with a beat built around a Halloween John Carpenter sample, and Ice T telling us all personally how fucked off he is about everything. What's incredible here is an album 72 minutes long, and I didn't lose interest or get tired of it at any point. What a great record.

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Thu Jul 06 2023
5

Part of the golden age of hip-hop, perhaps one of the last masterpieces before the lull. Harsh, loud, violent and angry, justifiably in all cases. Absolute genius, with some metal guitar thrown in for good measure.

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Thu Aug 03 2023
5

The first Ice-T album I purchased and still a classic.

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Fri Sep 15 2023
5

Upon initial contact with Ice-T's music, I had envisioned him to be an ill-mannered and psychologically unstable man with an extremely uneducated and barbaric frame of mind, whose raps displayed nothing but ridiculous jargon, shocking sexual audacity, and repulsive images of the ghetto. However, after further analysis of his music I can deduce that he is the epitome of antidisestablishmentarianism who embodies the entire spectrum of the urban experience and struggle. But to make things more plain and simple to the layman, I find Ice-T to be the dopest, flyest, O.G., pimp, hustler, gangster, player, hardcore motherfucker living today. To be honest, I'm totally and completely on his dick.

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Wed May 05 2021
4

5/23 Ice-T was NICE, new found respect for him. Standout tracks: Mic Contract, Mind Over Matter, New Jack Hustler (Nino's Theme), Bitches 2, O.G. Original Gangster, Midnight, Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous, Ya Shoulda Killed Me Last Year

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Mon Feb 01 2021
4

The music made me angry and the final not made me angrier. Reflects an entire way of life that I’m painfully ignorant to.

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Fri May 28 2021
4

Really good. Very dense lyrically and 72mins is a lot of work. Never listened much as dismissed as west coast gangster bull shit but Ice T has a lot to say, on par with public enemy.

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Sat Jan 23 2021
4

classic gangsta rap very well done

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Mon Feb 01 2021
4

Savage rhymes, hilarious and energising.

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Tue Feb 02 2021
4

of its time but some good songs with some donkeys

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Wed Mar 31 2021
4

Oh man, this album. i remember listening to this with my uncle Baldi outside during cookouts, or just hanging out when he was over at my grandma's. much like with NWA, i listened to it again later in life to understand it, and this is another album that was speaking more than just rap. the fact that it uses his own rock band in it, and is brilliantly composed, it's an instant include in any playlist.

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Wed Mar 03 2021
4

I liked it more toward the end. I was shocked by the heavy metal song.

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Fri Jan 22 2021
4

love that old school rap. good beats and doesn't get too indulgent with the skits.

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Tue Jul 06 2021
4

Great one, very diverse although it is a bit long.

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Sat Mar 06 2021
4

Kunnon O.G. menoa. Tuli kerralla selväksi millainen gangsteri Ice T on ja minkälaista elämää hän ja hänen lähipiirinsä viettävät. Oli sen verran selkeää artikulaatiota ja leppoisa flow, että maalaushommien taustalla pystyi kuuntelemaan mitä miekkosella on sanottavaa. Ja olihan sinne sekaan rokkibiisikin mahtunut, pääsi yllättämään!

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Thu Mar 04 2021
4

Not really my genre, but Ice T is great.

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Thu Mar 11 2021
4

I love this album - listened to it repeatedly as a teen

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Thu Mar 11 2021
4

I enjoyed this, there was a lot of swearing! I'd listen again.

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Thu Jul 22 2021
4

First introduction to gangsta rap, and honestly went in with a bad attitude. However, this is not bad and I enjoyed it but can't compare it to anything else in this genre. Black Sabbath being sampled in Midnight was fun. Body Count slaps and throws it over the top for me. 4.2/5.0.

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Tue Jun 01 2021
4

Ice T at his best. Lyrics and music that are powerful and strong.

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Wed May 12 2021
4

Great album, would not have listened if it wasnt for this. New found appreciation for ice t.

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Fri Jun 25 2021
4

shit smacks, dude has the best skits, lots of amazing rhymes

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Thu Aug 26 2021
4

Gutes Album, sozialkritische Texte.

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Sat Aug 28 2021
4

this was great, even if i got a little tired of it by the end. the amount of cultural change t represented, and helped bring about, is hard to comprehend - but it was real, and that legacy is important. i got to see him w/bodycount in 1992 or so, and although i didn't care much one way or the other back then, i'm glad i got to be there for it.

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Thu Sep 09 2021
4

I don't usually listen to rap, but when I do it is these OGs like Ice-T. This early stuff is raw and powerful, like the beginnings of punk. Really good album

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Wed Sep 22 2021
4

I respect Ice T more after listening to the album. It kept my attention. 3.5

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Fri Oct 01 2021
4

Old school gangsta rap. Definitely not my thing, just talking about how hard he is, how much sex he has, how much money and guns he has. It's produced well but just not my bag. I am giving it a higher rating because my opinion is based on my life experience and that I just don't enjoy the gangsta mentality or glorification, but I respect that this was impactful for black culture. Also the last track is the best part of the album, that was worth an extra point on itself too.

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Wed Oct 13 2021
4

A shade below the absolute best rap albums of the era and a touch too long at 72 minutes in length, but still pretty solid and worthy overall.

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Fri Oct 15 2021
4

It's good, but again nobody needs well over an hour of it

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Fri Nov 05 2021
4

Picked up as it went along. Before my time, but He had a lot to say and said it well.

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Mon Nov 15 2021
4

7/10 pretty formulaic but good for a 1991 rap album

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Wed Nov 17 2021
4

Al principio me costó, pero es muy buen disco

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Fri Dec 24 2021
4

Fucking great. Despite variable production, this holds up well 30 years later, some skits aside.

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Wed Jan 05 2022
4

actually very enjoyable and flowed nicely

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Wed Jan 19 2022
4

The fact that Ice-T just threw in a rock song in this album is so cool. The rest of the album is very good too, always liked the 90's rap more than any other era of rap (yes I'm looking at you, mumble rap).

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Fri Jan 21 2022
4

4/5. Actually pretty swag, got some attitude, pretty aight

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Sun Feb 13 2022
4

The best thing about this exercise is the great hip hop albums I've been introduced to. ICE Ts album Power was the first rap album I ever purchased back 35ish years ago. This album is wonderful. Intelligent, compelling, musically diverse and just fucking good. 4.5🌟

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Mon Feb 21 2022
4

Ice T is not afraid to go beyond genre and reclaim rock and rolls black roots. This attitude and openness elevate this album and makes it stand out among early 90s gangster rap. He raps clearly and though he’s not the most acrobatic rapper, everything fits together well.

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Thu Feb 24 2022
4

A little bloated, a little samey, but damn, Ice-T got more flow than I was expecting. I never gave him much credit; guess that's gonna change.

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Thu Mar 03 2022
4

I heard the ‘rock that shit homie’ sample then got sucked into listening to JSRF soundtrack. This was really good tho! Better than I expected

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Wed Mar 16 2022
4

Amazingly progressive and political. Fun Zeppelin sample on one of the tracks.

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Wed Apr 06 2022
4

I liked this much more than I expected to. Witty & angry at the same time.

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Fri Apr 15 2022
4

It's interesting listening to this with the knowledge that he ended up on Law & Order SVU.

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Fri Apr 29 2022
4

I mean it's right in the title, he's the OG.

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Sun May 08 2022
4

Still stands up, very fond memories of this as a teenager - was lent it from a friend and it felt genuinely dangerous to listen to.

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Wed May 18 2022
4

“Oh boy,” I thought as I looked at 73 minutes of 1991 rap. It isn’t my preferred genre. When I put this on and didn’t mind the first track. Then “First Impression” - not really a musical track but a monologue - took me by surprise and made me really laugh. Maybe there will be enough here to carry me through to the end… There is a lot of variety on these songs. Yes, there is a lot of guns and drugs. These lyrics aren’t for family listening. Still I was surprised how far between my pearl-clutching moments were. Ice T throws in some moments of humor and empathy and social messaging that made this feel better than a lot of rap I’ve heard. The self-reflection and a willingness to examine and play with the tropes of the genre I find very refreshing. Still not something I will probably listen to while relaxing and chilling, but I like it and respect its place on this list.

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Wed May 18 2022
4

I certainly know Ice-T as a rapper, but I am much more familiar with him as Tutuola. I know very little of his rap repertoire, but as far as a rap album goes, I thought that this one was quite a good one. I like Ice-T’s rap-style and rhymes. The music was also highly engaging for me. I can see calling up this album when I am in a mood for some rap of the 90s…which is certainly not on the daily, but…

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Wed May 18 2022
4

So this is the affable, older gentleman from the insurance and cereal commercials. Oh, Gee! It's hard to keep me hooked for over an hour, but this album sounded pretty good from start to finish. I was moving along the whole time. I was dreading the rap-metal track, but I really liked it. After having been expanding my hip hop/rap horizons, this album seems so much more self-aware and analytical than previous works. Not just "here were are," but "why we are here." I gained some understanding, insight, and appreciation from this album. That said, I completely missed the logic in "Bitches 2." So, "ladies," it's not so bad to be called a bitch because... now wait, what? And again so many references to women's body parts without ever really referring to a sentient human being attached to those parts...but...sigh. But aside from that general complaint about most hip hop, I enjoyed this album.

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Wed May 18 2022
4

This is really good. Hard-hitting and great beats. Long. Great shift to rock on Body count. Like the narrative interrmissions.

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Fri May 20 2022
4

i was surprised at how much i liked this. the production is largely simple but good, and T has some real lyricism here.

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Thu Jun 02 2022
4

An accessible and engaging hip hop album, this stands the test of time and does not sound at all dated, 30+ years after it's release. Apparently considered an early "gangsta rap" record, the themes of street life are viscerally conveyed with pathos and regret rather than glorification. It seems Ice T was decades ahead of his time. Not my genre, but one of my favourites of the genre. Rating: 3.5/5 Playlist track: New Jack Hustler (Nino's Theme) Date listened: 01/06/22

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Thu Jun 02 2022
4

Crazy that this guy is an actor now

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Wed Jun 15 2022
4

I remember hearing Body Count for the first time in my teens, blew my mind! Digging the Black Sabbath and Halloween samples, brings in elements of psychological horror. OG is a great album, but it's way longer than it should be. Maybe if it focused more on the hard hitting themes and less on appeasing the pimps, it could be a classic.

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Wed Jun 15 2022
4

Doesn't this have to be on the list simply for the irony of Ice-T portraying a cop that has become longest running male TV character in history. One of the first, if not the first (Schoolly D) mainstream gangsta rap releases. Gets points for presenting and both glorifying and critiquing a lifestyle nor previously represented in music. The music is unrefined and the pivot to Body Count is only hinted at, but the overall effect is authentic and powerful.

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