Reviews (page 3 of 8)
No va
Better than mumble rap, that's for sure. 3/5
Ice T was in a film in the 90s with Rutger Hauer and Gary Busey called Surviving the Game, where he played a homeless man that was being hunted as game by some rich white guys. I haven’t seen the film since the 90s, but it wasn’t a particularly good film back then. I listened to Ice T’s music in the 90’s too. I thought it was ok then, but on reflection and listening now, it isn’t. Funny that.
Still relevant, love the production and beats
Solid West coast 90s gangsta rap. Needs to be considered in the rap context of the time.
6/10
Un tipo duro. CopKiller y Body count fueron muy exitosas. No fue pionero del Gangsta Rap porque estaba en el ejército mientras N.W.A. (con Ice Cube otra figura esencial) arrasaban con todo. Sólida carrera tanto musical como cinematográfica (algo que Ice Cube también tiene). No es mi estilo ni artista preferido pero no le quito el mérito que tiene ni la vigencia de este álbum. A las conocidas Cop Killer (sumprimida por Ice T debido a su enorme controversia generada) y Body Count le añadiría como destaca Mic Contract con un os fraseos y samples bastante buenos.
great
This has dated in many ways. The casual misogyny, the language but also musically. This feels like the last wave of this form of hip-hop before Nas and Wu-Tang revolutionise it. That said though there’s lots to enjoy. Interesting samples including black sabbath and the usual jazz funk stuff. His rhymes are interesting and punchy and he’s an engaging rapper. Plenty to enjoy
Since I don't consider rap as music I didn't bother.
Började riktigt skakigt. De senare låtarna var bättre. Men överlag en besvikelse
Despite being only 1h12m - it felt like it was never going to end. Not a single memorable track.
To be fair, there were a few good bars in this album. But I just don’t know how this list can justify not having some of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, like Graduation by Kanye West, and instead include albums like this. The beats were almost all really annoying, and the album was way too long. I like hip-hop, but I didn’t enjoy this.
This album is good at what it is which is a love letter to and from Ice T. There is a lot of influence from this album but I'm not sure that it's great. It's long, the songs are too long and when it trys to be subversive or transgressive, it comes off as kind of tone deaf. Perhaps at the time reclaiming the N-word or saying men can be bitches 2 was interesting or suprising. Time has upped the corniness. Overall it's a solid project but it's played a bit too straight to age well.
This ruled; I didn't expect that I would like it as much as I did. A lot of old school rap sounds primitive or even corny at times, and while this doesn't escape some of the sounds of the time, included several places where one set of words are always rhymed with the same set of words, it mostly goes really hard the whole way through. In a way this is a bridge album between the 80's style and the about-to-happen table flipping brought on by Tupac, Biggie, Nas, etc. I would consider this to be the real apex of that old school style. I also can't ignore that there's a Body Count song on here. It isn't as good as the full Body Count album, but it's great to see a punk song on otherwise completely rap album. Ice-T even realizes that as he takes a bit to explain what he's doing in the spoken intro. I really appreciate that. There's even a hint it's coming with the beat in Midnight that samples Black Sabbath's self title song. The only things keeping this from a 5 are that the songs are mostly all about how tough Ice-T is, with a couple of good stories (Midnight, Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous, Body Count, etc). A bit more variety would've been good, but otherwise it's stellar. And how sad is it that nearly ever word of the last track is still applicable, minus the specific year and named political figures. What a shit state of affairs.
My favorite NYPD Blue rebel cop
More creative than I was expecting. A good amount of social justice and fun. Also, he had a track that was a metal song.
Was on the fence between 3 and 4 stars. Bonus star for that last message. Still true today.
O.G. Original Gangster (1991) is the fourth studio album by Ice-T. Okay, so this is the first album that I couldn’t bring myself to listen to all the way through so I’m not going to even attempt a review. Gangsta Rap is not for me, and I feel alright about that. I slogged through nine songs, but that wasn’t even half way through as the album has a whopping twenty-four!!
Cool
Never was a big Ice T fan. And this is just very, very dated …
music is love
Some good moments on this, and some less so. Light 3
crip walkin through life
Interesting. The first half is a decent representation of early 90s rap - Public Enemy style 'wall of noise' production and relatively simple raps, but by the end you have the hardcore punk of Body Count, samples of Black Sabbath and Zeppelin, and the use of the Halloween theme predating horrorcore by several years. As a listen it's pretty good, but when you add the historic relevance and the fact he combines political rap with standard braggadocio makes it much more interesting than a lot of work from that era. Kinda hoping I get a body count lp later! 4*
Is 24 tracks and 1h 12mins of Ice T on one album too much? Maybe a bit. But i do like these older hiphop albums because of the really clever usage of samples. 'Midnight' is really good example of this by using Led Zeppelin drumbeat combined with Black Sabbath guitar riff.
I couldn't even finish this album.
I like my Ice-T more in black hoodie. But there were few bangers in this album as well.
I've had this LP in my collection since the early 90's. Time has not been too kind to it, the samples and beats feel mostly very outdated. Overall the tracks sound stripped down to bare minimum, even tho back in the day I remember feeling they were huge, Midnight is still banger tho. I didn't like the talkey intros and interludes then, nor do I like them now. Some of the the lyrical flow still works really well tho.
I love the self conciusness of the album bit it gets a little reppetitive with its long run time
Pretty fun, a ltitle long, not my fav era of rap. Can appreciate it tho
The most intellectually self-aware of gangsta rap records (compare to the cruder Predator album by Ice Cube of the following year) offering a kind of apologia for the genre. Whether or not you find his argument successful, there’s no doubt that it’s eloquently stated and the tracks are dynamic and varied, justifying the album’s length. I particularly like “Midnight” with its Black Sabbath/Led Zeppelin sampling and was pleasantly surprised when “Body Count” popped up.
Mucho rap, meh
Stark trea, bättre än väntat
Överraskande roligt album! Varierande musikaliskt och med texter faktiskt värda att lyssna på.
Inget fan av gangstarap men det här har mycket catchy o groovy grejer ändå. Inte fullkomligt in your face kassa texter.
Rappare tröttnar inte på sina egna röster alltså.
Andra halvan var bättre, men till skillnad från annan hiphop på den här listan kändes det här rätt oinspirerat tyvärr.
0/24 bekannt 4/10 Beste Songs: bitches 2, Body count, the tower
Good album. OG gangster rap. Got some good songs. A bit too long tho.
Ah yeah
I skipped this one, was put off at the first few songs. Not my thing.
Wel doorheen te komen, maar niet helemaal mijn ding.
Great west coast
3 1/2. Very enjoyable.
The rap rock song was kinda interesting
DISCAZO ALAVERGA
Boring
Shite Sandwich Part II
Early 90s west coast rap has never been my thing, but it's okay. The beats are too repetitive and most of the songs drone on too long, but it's a solid 3
I like this
Как-то не ложиться рэп. Прослушал, пролетело мимо.
The Good: We are getting a refreshment! The Bad: The ice tea is not sweetened… The Ugly: bitter face… I don’t know if Ice T is the original o.g. however, and let me, again, preface this by stating that I don’t like rap in general, this album was a surprise for me. So here’s to the O.G. not being gangster all the time! 3*
I wasn’t enjoying this at all at the start but a couple of tracks in it started to pick up. I could live without the skits throughout it but I could say that about every rap album that has them. Overall I liked it well enough but I don’t see myself ever going back to it after today. Top Track - Midnight, great use of a Black Sabbath sample. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Classic rap by one of the OGs! 4/5
(5) ice-T’s master piece. Gangsta-Rap classic, it brought everything to help generate the sound of this hip hop genre. I think I have quoted this album a lot, it was definitely an influence on my vocabulary, not the words you’re probably thinking of, but phrasing like “I don’t play that!” I also remember listening to this as I walked behind the lawn mower, I would act out the scenarios as I mowed next to the geraniums.
24 songs says something. It may not say that they are all good but it’s alway a breath of fresh air to see more tracks than usual. Even if a handful are basically skits. I’ve never seen Ice T as a solid rapper. He always seemed to be stuck in that 80’s hip hop sound. And that can be good. I mean, NWA could do it and live happily. I think it’s just Ice’s delivery. There’s only one way for him. Sort of angry, sort of stand offish. Every track. It wasn’t until he created Body Count that I felt his came into his own. Never mind that shitty tv show acting. This isn’t even close to a Dr.Dre The Chronic or any NWA album. Not even Ice Cube at his worst. It’s just ok and that seems to be the pattern I’m seeing with this generator app Choice cut: OG
Played this on repeat when it came out. It holds up so well.
lovvvv this
the Original Gangster is wel koole knul maar toch 4 sterren
Holy crap this is a long album. This sounds like some GTA San Andreas style rap. Does Midnight sample both When the Levee Breaks and Black Sabbath? Body Count being half heavy metal song is awesome.
War schon unterhaltsam, aber auch zu lang.
Wie viele Alben aus der Zeit (s. Snoop Dogg und Eminem zuletzt hier in der Liste) für mich sehr schlecht gealtert. Textlich hier teilweise bessere Ansätze, allerdings die Beats hart langweilig.
Krankt leider etwas an der damaligen Strategie, die Laufzeit einer CD komplett auszunutzen, weshalb hier einige unnötige Skits, Interludes und teilweise auch Songs zu finden sind. Auch die Beats sind eher zweckmäßig und stechen nicht wirklich hervor. Aber lyrisch ist das hier großartig und verbindet typische Elemente des Gangsta-Rap a la N.W.A. mit sozialkritischen Texten als logische Weiterführung von Public Enemy. Hab mich mit seinen Solo-Sachen nie beschäftigt und war richtig überrascht, was für stabile Positionen er schon damals vertreten hat (sogar Lines gegen Homophobie waren dabei). Auch die Storyteller haben hier richtig gut funktioniert ("The Tower" war super fesselnd) und der Body Count-Teaser zeigt, dass er damals das Genre schon weitergedacht hat. Stabile Platte, die ich bislang zu Unrecht missachtet habe.
Ich habe nicht so ein langes Album erwartet. Es war im Flow, passte zueinander und abwechslungsreich. Alles gut, nur mir zu viel Gangster.
Ich würd's gern gut finden, aber das ist fast noch weiter weg von meiner Baustelle als das Jazz-Gedudel.
Grundsätzlich mochte ich viele der Songs und vorallem auch die Abwechslung in der Beat Auswahl. Aber das ist halt auch nur im zeitlichen Kontext Abwechslungsreich. Vorallem auf die wirklich sehr lange Laufzeit verliert es mich in der Mitte etwas. Mit Body Count gewinnt es mich dann zurück, aber das sagt auch schon alles aus. Ice-Ts Band mag ich mehr als Ice-Ts Solo Kram. Für ne 3 reicht es aber, da ich zwischendrin sehr gut unterhalten war.
While I know of him I haven't listened to Ice-T at all so this was a fun listen through because of that. The songs themselves weren't bad but they didn't catch me or drag me in wanting more. ITs kind of what I expected from this time. Perhaps something that was way better if you heard it when it came out.
This is a great record !
Rap US
I got bored half way through, a few interesting songs but a lot of filler.
I miss slow rap. Rap I can understand all the words, delight in the clever and silly rhymes. This was such a good listen for that.
Not my favorite artist
Solid West Coast 90s hip-hop album with good beats, interesting storylines. A pleasure to listen to.
This album embodies the '90s rap beats and storytelling. Great listen.
I really enjoyed this. It would be better if it was a little shorter. Regardless, it’s leaps and bounds ahead of The Black Album.
Awesome album Standout songs: New Jack Hustler Midnight Body Count
really good, defo enjoyed
Not for me.
didn't finish
Candidly Ice-T. Good album.
Not really my kind of music, but I enjoyed it. It was fun, you could see a lot of influence from this album in hip hop to come. Just not really my thing :)
Oh he needs to stick to acting fr
fuck bush and his crippled bitch!
Day 176 One of the most surprising albums I’ve had so far, really really enjoyed this, wasn’t really what I was expecting, funnier than I thought it would be. Not quite full marks but pretty close. Mind over Matter may be one of my favourite discoveries on the whole list Highlights Mind over matter New jack hustler The tower
pretty fun album that doesn't find that much purchase in my brain
Although I never paid too much attention to this era of hip hop, Ice-T stood out for me, especially considering it’s West Coast. West Coast hip hop always seemed sleazy, over-commercialized, and too polished, while East Coast had that raw, gritty, DIY feel that I usually gravitate toward. Ice-T, however, feels different. Maybe he was at his peak before the West Coast sound really became solidified, but he’s always walked his own path, maintaining that rawness and edge that I appreciate.
ok, aber nicht extrem spektakulär. der flow ist beeindruckend.
Endlich wieder einmal ein klassischer Rapper. Gefällt gut!
Top 3: 1. The Tower 2. Midnight 3. Body Count First Hip-Hop album I've gotten so far. Unfortunately didn't have much time with it, but I liked the attempt at a rock song and the Halloween Theme sample.
Toooo many skits
I have appreciated Ice T and this was an enjoyable listen.
Good for gangster rap which is not my favorite style but I still enjoyed It.
A different take on early 90s hip hop. It's mostly socially conscious, largely progressive, and occasionally very juvenile. Ice-T's attempt to subvert the misogyny of his peers by defining some men as "bitches" isn't exactly the feminist message that he thinks it is, but I guess it was noteworthy for the era. Some great beats here though!
This was awesome! I dont think I heard any of these tracks before, but I have heard some of the references, so it was neat to see those fall into place. Very interesting album and definitely sounds like something from 1994, but def not 91.
Er zijn zeker nummer uit de jaren 90 hiphop scene die ik zeer kan waarderen. Maar het eerste nummer van dit album schaar ik daar absoluut NIET onder. Meine gute wat een bak ergernis wordt er over mij heen gestort. Ja het is echt een hoop 90s rap. Niet echt classics voor mij gevoel, maar ook niet zo ergerlijk als het eerste nummer. Zitten ook wat pratende stukken in, die zijn echt wel grappig. Body Count is in ene een soort rock nummer? What the fuck hahaha. Best goed ook. Oke oke, zeker niet mijn muziek, maarr ergens wel van genoten. Vooral dat rock nummer was echt wel grappig. en ook tof dat ie plots zoiets in dat album stopt. Prima, 3 reten.
Great album. The punk song body count rules.
Another talented badass who’s been embraced by TV watching grandmas everywhere. It’s a shame you can’t listen to this album in public because it is worth hearing.
Aggressive, dark and confrontational. Ice T was never my favorite west coast emcee, but his presence was most certainly felt throughout. He had his own way of evoking emotion from a lifestyle most don’t know anything about, myself included, but he made it relatable and understood.
#836. Hey, I didn't know that guy from Law and Order was on this list. 3/5: meh
I has been a long time since I sat down and listened to Ice-T. It holds up for me, I'll wager a younger listener will think differently. T had some good lines, it's a different flow than we have now. Interesting look back at hip hop history, especially when you toss in the Body Count track. He got a lot of heat for Body Count, but I think two songs from this were on a soundtrack.... Now he is a cop on TV and been married to Coco for over 20 years.
you sucked in surviving the game
*1991. *Listened to this a couple times - it's a fun listen with catchy upbeat tunes, but also excellent lyrics/commentary. *I've enjoyed the rap/hip-hop selections on this list so far - glad to get some exposure to albums I probably wouldn't have stumbled across otherwise. RATING - 7/10
didn’t know acclaimed 2000s actor ice t was a musician too!
I l o v e the beats specifically on Mic Contract and Escape From The Killing Fields but I am not a huge fan of Ice T's lyrics or delivery unfortunately.
Opening track was good. But also like a loop that was looped too many times. I didn’t need two minutes. This is my first time listening to Ice-T not in Body Count. Apparently it doesn’t matter what he does, I like it. First impression is really good. I don’t have a lot to say about this record other than I like it. Now I get why Body count worked so well. “Original gangster” is killer. That swing is amazing. This album just keeps getting better. “Midnight” sounds like “Black Sabbath” over “when the levee breaks”. This is great. And now “Body Count”. Ice is on another level.
This album was fantastic! I loved the political commentary. Also really enjoyed the genre switch up in Body Count and anti war message at the end. Appreciate that Ice-T wasn’t homophobic, gotta love that!
Not a fan
Very good album,
Ice-T, US-amerikanischer Rapper, veröffentlichte O.G. Original Gangster 1991, aufgenommen unter anderem in den Entourage-Studios in Los Angeles. Das Album gilt als einflussreich im Gangsta-Rap, mit Tracks wie „New Jack Hustler“, „Bitches 2“ und „You Played Yourself“. Musikalisch verbindet es harte Beats mit erzählerischem Flow und reflektiert das Leben in den Straßen von Los Angeles. Die Produktion ist präzise, die Themen urbaner Realität direkt und unverblümt. Insgesamt zeigt das Album Ice-Ts Fähigkeit, gesellschaftliche Beobachtungen mit Rap-Performance zu verknüpfen, ohne übertrieben zu wirken. Man muss es nicht unbedingt mögen das ganze Gangstergedöns.
I'm no hip hop expert and gansta isn't my favourite sub-genre. Scans as more east coast than west, but that makes sense in context. I find he gets stuck/comfortable in a particular cadence, but the departures from that are the standouts. Body Count is amazing.
Like it 3/5
Love the beats on this. Also, I would never fuck with Ice-T
Undeniable genre-defining album. Lots of imitators but nobody ever came close to topping this. Also, Body Count!
Eh..
Das nächste Album, welches ich mir nicht antue. HipHop und Rap lehne ich grundsätzlich ab! Keine Chance! Vertane Zeit!
Whitest review section ever. 5/5
I surprisingly didn’t hate it, but I also never need to listen to it again.
Fairly expected rap from Ice T
did not really like it, not my style; but still well done
Tuve cero intereses de escuchar esto. Desde el primer momento que lo escuché no me gustó para nada
From rappin about committing homicides to investigating homicides. 5/10
Whilst this is an important album in the pantheon of rap, I don't think that it's aged particularly gracefully. It sounds quite cheesy and trite at times, but still worth a listen for rap historians.
Hiç benlik değil mlsf
en tarzim olmayan genre maalsf
Listens: 2.5 Standout Tracks: First Impressions, Bitches 2, Prepared to Die, Escape from the Killing Fields, Street Killer I can't help but laugh at this album. There's some good shit on it, but its also just really amusing. You've got Ice T in 1991 singing about being an OG, and then I just picture him on Law & Order as a police. The First Impressions skit also cracks me up. In fact, all of the skits on this album are pretty great, especially Street Killer. Ice T isn't the best rapper out there. Some of his rhymes are too simple, but what he lacks in lyrical style he makes up for with the persona and the bravado he brings to the album. If Ice T doesn't like the rating, I give him, I guess he's just gonna have to... crunch the numbers (if you know, you know).
Much of the gangsta pimp schtick hasn't aged well - but a lot of the production still sounds quite fresh and the Ice persona is pretty entertaining. And when the themes turn more politically conscious, it's much more on point, to my ear at least.
Not my usual listen, but not so bad. There was more integration of sample layers than others at the time. Enjoyed the hard rock sounds on Body Count and the Halloween sample on The Tower.
I bought this record at some point in my late teens and enjoyed it, but I haven't heard it in forever, so I suspect it'll be fun to revisit. I wasn't super into hip hop at the time I bought this, so I think of this as one of the records that helped get me into the genre. So, it does hold a sort of special place in my heart. It is pretty funny. Ice-T has a decent sense of humor on him. The record doesn't stack up to the all-time classics for me, but it is solid work, if not a little dated at this point. But I still like it a good deal and I'm enjoying myself. 3.8/5
Not for me.
Surprised I've never heard this. Very catchy in places, especially Breakout. A bit inconsistent though.
Not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. I can feel the ‘90s from the lyrics and beats, but this is a miss to me.
Day731 - ice-t was saying the same things in ninety-one as a few others rappers i just liked hearing it from public enemy and third bass better. the new jack hustler is his best song
Well surprise surprise I quite like this. Inventive rap and inventive music. I sure don't like when it exercises tired gangsta tropes, but damn they are mostly cast in an inventive way. The musicality is what hits me the most.
Not my kind of thing but he chooses samples well. Props to the Halloween film theme.
I listened to this twice and have no recollection of anything I heard except he said Ice T a lot, especially at the start of the album.
OMG with the bitches and hoes.
You either die a hero or live long enough to become a recurring character on a syndicated crime procedural show. 3/5
90s hip hop.
This is one of the first rap albums I ever heard.
7/10… gangster rap / o.s hip hop / *1991
Goed rap album. Luistert prima weg
Hip Hop, 51 eme album => 1/5
Love the interludes! A fun and underrated album you can get lost in. Not my go to genre but can appreciate it.
Listened while dozing
Enjoyed this a surprising amount. Makes sense he went into act as all of this feels very performative, but entertaining if you don’t take it seriously. Enjoyed the hardcore crossover and am now listening to Body Count
right place right time - I remember when it came out and we were all like, 'H-U-S-T-L-E-R, HUSLAAAA ' .. loved him. now all that angry F*ck tha police' just turns me off but I understand the importance and the beats work..
Couldn’t get past the first two songs. Nothing redeemable, absolute trash. I see no artistic value in listening to some pompous fool bragging about all the sex he has and how awesome he is. Zero stars.
This reminds me of the finger shock game where each person places one finger in a slot, a light flashes randomly, and when it stops, the person the light points to gets a mild electric shock. It creates a lot of tension and expectation of what's next. There's relief throughout as others get the light, and when it's finally your turn, it's fun...energizing.
My head is not really in the game today. I defer to the GOAT Robert Christgau on this one to get the view from 1991... "Learning and diversifying, remembering where he comes from and sticking to what he knows, Ice-T wins big as the old school shakes out. He won't desert the hards because a hard he remains; his violence is pervasive and graphic because he knows brutalization from the inside. But he's nothing if not a moralist, and so the new jack drunk dies in his Benz, the cops break down the gangbanger's door, his gays are left to live their own lives, and his prematurely ejaculated sex jam is a dis on the horny fool who slavers for it. Since most of what I know about the hard audience comes from rap records, I can't guarantee he'll get away with it. But I can guarantee that this one has something to teach everyone who can stand to listen to it and almost everyone who can't." These men speak truth - both Ice -T and Bobby C - something we could use a little more of is 2025. If nothing else you got to respect that.
Overall: 7/10 I like that Ice T basically did whatever he wanted. A lot of these songs are politically charged, but there's also a lot of humour to be found. Plus, he added a Body Count song to this one, showing off his love of rock music. I know he gets the sellout label and he can be a bit of a cornball at times, but this album shows that Ice T really did have a lot of talent. Fav Song: The Tower
Solid 90's rap with some good storytelling/ commentary 7/10
I’m not massive on rap, so I don’t know too much about your Icey T’s or your Scoopy Scoopy Dog Dog’s… but this was alright. It feels more 80’s rap than that ‘gangsta shit’ that became massive in the 90’s, and I kind of dig that. I like the tracks that are a bit funky, and parts of this were pretty funny too. But man, why are rap albums always so long? There’s not enough variance across this album to justify the runtime, I’m sorry. Even with the rock track. And anyone who disagrees with that can, you know, suck my dick.
Either I’m becoming inoculated to gangster rap or this is different and better. I would not dis Ice T.
Pretty long album. I like “New Jack Hustler” best, and generally prefer the tracks that have some of the horns/jazz samples. Interesting that in 1991 you had to spell out what OG means - today it’s such a common phrase.
Another album whose biggest knock against it is that it overstays it's welcome. I do feel like Ice-T has a pretty singular voice, moving effortlessly from smooth to sinister to almost silly within a line or two.
I feel like Ice T might have been old news by the time I got into hip hop as a teen, and so I went into this with low expectations that might be affecting the score. Because while there's definitely some dated stuff on here (Straight Up N*gga especially), there was also a fair amount of catchy songs with beats, horns, and samples that feel nearly contemporary (Mic Contract, Mind Over Matter, and Midnight made me think of the Beastie Boys.) Some of the inbetween skits/dialogue tracks were actually funny. So maybe a high 3, low 4 kind of scenario, but going with a 4 for how far this leaped over my low expectations.
this is all i dislike about rap
I quite enjoyed this, though I couldn't song along because white people shouldn't say that word so many times.
What I would expect from Ice T. It's old school hip hop and rap. I like the album though. Probably wouldn't own it but I enjoy listening.
"You got to kill people to have respect for people...You gotta kill some people anyway, you can't kill everybody otherwise you wouldn't have anybody left to respect if you did."
not for me.
Bon rap us a l'ancienne c ok
Du bon rap de og, ça tombe bien c'est le nom de l'album ! Son flow m'a vraiment fait penser à celui de MC Solaar En plus y'a des samples de Mr. Browstone trop bien, et les interludes sont super. Par contre un peu long sur la fin dommage :/
Painfully aware that I am *not* the target audience for this music
Don't mess wit ice
Some undoubted high points, but over an hour of west coast gangster rap is a little bit too much for my sensitive European soul
I don't know, it's just not for me
An actually decent rap album. Some garbage on here, but much lower than most. 3/5
Solid, solid rap from Ice-T. Honestly one of my favorites, so not a surpirse that I liked the album. Still had too many skits, though.
3.5
A pretty standard 90s rap album from everyone's favorite NYPD detective. Really the kind of album that makes you want to have relationships with women and sex with men.
This album's fuckin' great. Ice-T is on his own shit. Hard story-telling rhymes with break-heavy beats. The production on here is creative, fluid and clean. It's a longer album but things stay moving the whole time. Ice-T is solid as fuck. This is classic shit.
Much better than expected. Early 90s gangster. 4.5.
It's weird. I think his project Body Count belongs on here more than his straight up hip hop albums.
Not necessarily my thing, but he was good.
rock/rap. OG. message.
Not for me.
Great, but SOO long, the beats are good, the rapping is great, reminds me of Ice Cube a lot in some places, and I think they were probably connected around this time, so I guess that makes sense. As always with this era of rap, I like the faster beats a lot more than the slower ones, which can sometimes feel very aimless. I feel like perhaps some of the lyrical themes haven't aged so well, but there's loads of more progressive viewpoints, which I'm pretty sure he has stuck with to this day (unlike Ice Cube). Favourite songs: most (not really the skits though). Overall around 7/10
Started out as really tedious ganster rap. I always find the idea that singing some poetry to a beat is a hardcore thing a bit ridiculous, here especially. But a couple of good tracks began to change my mind. Bitches 2 was the first where my ear pricked up and I liked Midnight a lot, with its narrative. So the back half of this album is much better than the first, it won me over.
body goals i should stop eating mini cheddars
Good beats, powerful lyrics, and then a heavy metal track half way through.
Nice
80’s / 90’s hip-hop that is engaging and listenable. I can’t follow the lyrics but it’s probably not really for me.
A timeless classic
Your momma got two feet outta her titties. Bitch fell down and still runnin.
Dire.
Hm. Not for me, but probably my third favourite Ice after Cube and Vanilla, so, bronze medal I guess.
I am not a hip-hop fan but I actually enjoyed this one, especially the politically charged lyrics
A little bloated but i love that early 90s hip-hop sound.
he needs an editor
Interesting bits but gosh it’s long
Appreciate Ice-T.
women are bitches amirite
rap...
OG
2.5 flow, 4 star beats.
Not my jam. Production is SO 90S. His vocals are too monotonous for me, too deadpan. Good flow, definitely, but not for me.
Best Songs: Midnight, Body Count and The Tower Great Album
The album can something that keeps the listener posted. Not the best rap forms in my opinion, but the overall essence is good. Also much better than many of the listening experiences for this list.
LA is city of body bags, Berlin is city of doggy bags
Body Count!
I’m not good at rating Hip Hop because I just don’t like it
Hard as fuck, damn Ice.
Never really listened to Ice T. This one surprised me. Seeing 24 tracks I thought I was in for a slog. I turned it on and started doing some chores. These songs got my attention, in a good way. Really kind of cinematic (not just New-Jack Hustler). Telling stories and painting pictures with words. Frequently troubling and disturbing, but that's the point.
It was decent but very long. And a bit samey after a while.
I only knew his hits.....but the rest is way better than I thought. You can hear all of his rhymes, its novel.
Gangsta rap is not my thing. The album had some good moments, but it was too long in the end. Other than that, nothing really bad.
Too long
Old school 90’s rap
The only thing really noteworthy here is that the production is reasonably evocative of Peak Gangsta. Otherwise, the rhymes are fine, the subject matter is cliche (he's *not* being misogynistic, see, he calls men "bitches" too), the album is *so fucking long* (Nineties Overlong Album Disease is officially epidemic by '91), and the whole experience is consistently unpleasant in a way that I assume may have signified at the time but that I have no desire to experience again. Ice is understandably preoccupied with the violence around him but if you're going to be obsessed with something then you need to have something meaningful to say about it, and he doesn't really. Transitioning into acting was a good move.
Not my thing
Surprisingly good rap album, all things considered.
Old school rap. Interesting and engaging.
This just reaffirmed my aversion to hip hop
Although I much prefer Ice T in Body Count, this is probably his best album that isn't a rock/ hip-hop blend. Four stars.
Album reivindicatiu que flipes amb la comunitat negra, etc. S'estil es tipo rap, hip hop, aquest rollo. No m'ha agaradat senir renous de pistola, per jo massa violent.
Great album with a little added rock element. Story telling was pretty great as well
i was about 4 songs in and about to give this album a 2 like i did for ice cube because early 90s rap has insanely dated production and rudimentary bars that just don't hold up in our modern era...but then the most insane thing happened...this album became insanely woke...it's obvious that ice-t was thoughtful when putting this record together because this album contends with race relations and class consciousness beyond the typical 'giving an insight into life in the hood' explanation sometimes given by his peers in the era as cover for what was just an invitation for voyeurism for the consumer. the album ended on a condemnation of the gulf war contrasting it to america's own war on crime and drugs in the inner cities bro come on...the beats are still very repetitive and at times it drags but listening to a west coast album that contends with this subject matter in the way that it did showed ice-t had a vision and executed it and we have to give him his tens for that, we stan a woke king
uhh i appreciate hip hop but idc for this LMAO
This is so good. So much cool stuff.
3.4/5 Pretty good old school gangsta rap. Not ridiculously good, but solid.
Love the voice and swagger of Ice-T. Really captivating storytelling gangstarap.
This was a bit of a blast from the past. I bought the CD when it came out, and saw Ice-T on the inaugural Lollapalooza tour. I don't really like gangster rap, but this is probably the best album of the genre.
Starting to think I need an acronym for "yeah its ok, but I wouldn't listen to it/not my genre." Perhaps "glad to have heard it once, but ready for the next"
Better than expected
I was a hip-hop head in the late 80's / early 90's but was a bit scared off by early gangsta rap (until NWA Straight outta Compton) so I originally missed this. It's great! Everyone reviewing it saying it hasn't aged well are totally off mark, this is old school hip-hop not Kendrick Lamar and the beats are superb and there is such a mix of stuff here, always interesting and colourful. Shame like most rap artists of his era his solo work seemed to fall off a cliff soon after (apart from Body Coun stuff!).
Good beats, but the lyrics aren't for me.
2,5
One of the stronger rap albums I've come across in the 1001 Albums list. Ice-T’s lyrical delivery is sharp, and the production holds up well, blending classic hip-hop beats with a touch of rock influence—which I appreciated. His crossover appeal is evident, and it adds a bit of edge to the album. That said, the skits (as with many rap albums) felt unnecessary and broke the flow more than they added to it. Overall, it’s a solid listen, but not one I’d find myself returning to.
Long before SUV the lyrical gangster - I know it's not THE lyrical gangster but someone throwing 2 dollar words into rap music....
4.0 72:17 (long albums, a lot of gangsta skits run up track count) 24 tracks Great album but by 1991 I'm not sure we needed another album from Ice (Tracy) to define the West Coast hardcore sound. Power and Rhyme Pays are better albums for this list. A few things I liked: 1.) He gives MC Hammer the street cred he could never get on his own - this was well played 2.) Body Count is a much better heavy metal band than most people give Ice-T credit for 3.) He finally fixed Flav's stupid ass Cold Lampin' (leaning against a lamp post while working the streets) to Cold Lounging which is a big improvement 4.) Still gave it a 4 - a few tracks (Midnight looking at you) are filler and added nothing but other tracks were cuttin'. I disliked the use of the Asian bitch voice. If you don't agree with me, you can suck my dick
11/3/25. Wow, I've slept on Ice T for way too long. Really great commentary on this, plus amazing production and beats. Will definitely recommend to others. Also learned that Ice T fronts a metal band!
East coast/Zulu beats and sampling with 90s Gangster lyrics…oddly works incredibly well. The sampling on this is timeless. Oddly though, way more socially conscious than Common…can’t believe how socially conscious the album is. This album changed my mind forever about ice-T
I like to think I’m fairly well versed in 90s hip-hop but I’ve never listened to much Ice-T. This is a pretty good album. The production and beats are great, and there’s a good variety. Body Count really adds some variety, was not expecting a metal song on a hip-hop album.
Was enjoying the album, hovering around a 4/5, close to a 5. Then midnight came on and that song elevated this to a solid 5. The tower was a great song to end on as well
Kind of remedial raps, with over the top violent lyrics.
Not my genre but expect it is considered good album.
I’m really not into the gangsta rap of this period so I expected this to be a 2 star album, but this was great. I thought the hour plus run time would be a chore but I breezed through it. There’s an incredible range of stuff here and you forget Ice T is actually a great rapper. Even the skits weren’t dreadful! A real surprise this one.
Not my favorite, but actually fun cause i forgot he wasn’t just the law and order guy
Horrible like any other rap
Tracks vary in quality but some of the classics make up for this. Prefer this album to his 80s stuff. What ICE-T lacks in talent is covered by his ego/id as the "OG".
I could appreciate it but in general 90’s hip hop just isn’t my thing.
Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Really enjoyed the song where he called out love for his homes, not a diss track, sort of like a song of little loves notes, so sweet.
I enjoyed it way more than I expected I would.. MVPs made my day
Already listened to this one. Good album…. favorite from Ice-T. Rating: 8.5/10 Best Songs: O.G. Original Gangster, New Jack Hustler, Pulse of the Rhyme, Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous, Fly By
Mislim je da je ovo zastarilo u svakom mogućem smislu ali je meni fora, pogotovo storytelling dio.
Ice T is real?!
Love hip-hop but I did not vibe with this at all. Album is infinitely too long and outdated.
Never really dug rap but let’s see how this goes * Body bag: Damn, that’s a lot of gunshots * Impression: lol * Ziplock: like the flow of this one * Next few: meh * Ed: liked the horns * Bitches 2: not bad * Straight up: respect the message * OG: more guns…still like the flow of verses * Evil E: lol * Flyby: eh * Midnight: sounds like this influenced beastie boys. 91? That timeline works right. Never liked boys either * Midnight: meh * Chicken: lol, interesting to hear about album use * MVP: zzzz * Lifestyles: wh * Body count: guitar??? I was unaware of this development * Prepared, escape: meh * Killer: dig the beats and samples, too short * Pulse: good flow * Tower: meh * Shoulda: interesting finish Just not a rap fan. Seems likes this is his fourth album, which surprises me for a 1991 release. Curious to see what some of his earlier albums are like. Doubt those will have a guitar tune.
2.5 stars Over long. Too many tracks, too many skits- a victim of its time. There are good songs and good rhymes but it starts to blend together. I’d take a few of the tracks and ditch the album.
not my vibe. too hiphopie
Lots of bluster about being the OG, the gangster, the hustler, etc. I found it a bit boring. This is not something I’ve ever listened to. But I also found it kind of funny. Was that the intention? IDK - the funniest part is the chick that says: “ To be honest I'm totally and irrevocably on his dick” I wonder if she still is?
I grew up on this stuff. I was a white kid with a Mexican accent who lived in a semi-urban area, watched Colors when I was too young for it on my parents' cable subscription, and rocked KDAY in Los Angeles all day and all night. By the time this record dropped, however, I had moved on to punk rock. I remember seeing Ice-T (and Body Count), at the first Lollapalooza. I wasn't a huge fan of Body Count, but looking back, I can appreciate his attempt to branch out. I also remember when he played the show he tried to walk the eponymous song's title back a little. I mean, there was a ton of controversy around him at the time for the "Cop Killer" track, and also a ton of heat about the glorification of violence and misogyny in gangsta rap. But also, being Lollapalooza, I think because he was playing to a bunch of alternative kids who did not have any point of reference of the West Coast gangsta lifestyle, he said the meaning of the song title is that we are all "original" in the sense of having individuality, and that the gangsta part is because, and I quote: "we all gangstas." I called bullshit then. I call bullshit now. It was also because Ice-T was kinda a poser trying to grab some of that mountain of cash piling up for everyone glorifying the thug life on tape at the time. I think it's hilarious that a dude who wrote the song "Cop Killer" went on to play nothing but cops on TV for the rest of his career. And that one unbelievable line he delivered in New Jack City where he tells Wesley Snipes, "I wanna shoot you so bad, my dick's hard." As for the record itself, it's decent. "Midnight" is the standout banger, and the rest is pretty serviceable. The skits and faux interviews have aged poorly and seem theatrical and cheesy. "Body Count" distinguishes itself as a very safe hard rock track that, although genre-breaking at the time, feels forced and pretty tame. This has a classic hip-hop production and delivery that brings me back to the 80s and contains echoes of Eric B And Rakim, the Breakin' movies, Schooly D, RUN-DMC, and so on. It's pretty slick and well-performed; almost to a degree that makes it feel a bit inauthentic. It hits the right notes in a way that makes it feel like a soundtrack to a movie. There's a sort of manipulation going on that feels a bit overproduced and polished. That is almost made plain in the some of the skits about "having to do a sex song," which gives it this sort of paint-by-numbers feel. It's as if Ice-T on the album is a character that Tracy Marrow is playing. It mostly works, but also does feel a bit like a costume. That said, it's an easy listen and I don't hate it. The album art is a cool concept but an extremely shitty layout. I get what they are going for, but the balance is way off and the sense of symmetry is compromised severely. The powder blue type also makes this thing seem as hard core as a bottle of baby powder. Nope.
This album is feeling very long.
Excellent album
Long before he became a staple of Law and Order: SVU, Ice-T was revolutionising rap music at the turn of the 1990s, popularising the smooth-talking rap style that Snoop Dogg would eventually appropriate. But on O.G. Original Gangster, Ice-T was also introducing listeners to his appreciation for heavy metal. While rock/metal wasn't new in rap; Beastie Boys, Run D.M.C. and Public Enemy had already incorporated guitars into their material; Ice-T was the first rapper to truly honour his appreciation for heavy metal on the song 'Body Count', which would soon be the name of the rap metal outfit he'd unleash upon the world. The straight rap songs on O.G. also slap though. The sequence of 'Mic Contract', 'Mind Over Matter' and 'New Jack Hustler' is as raucous as it is smooth, and Ice-T seamlessly transitions between fury and hilarity, as if respects rap's ability to be both socially conscious and darkly humourous. O.G. is a long album: 24 tracks across 72 minutes: but Ice-T's razor-sharp focus and ability to craft memorable raps make this album seem a lot shorter than it actually is. It's essential for 'Body Count' alone, as Ice-T was a pivotal influence on the nü metal and rap metal movements that would emerge later in the 90s, but Ice-T also stands alongside N.W.A. alumni Ice Cube, Dr Dre and Eazy-E as a key player in putting West Coast hip hop on the map. Best songs: Mic Contract, Mind Over Matter, New Jack Hustler (Nino's Theme), O.G. Original Gangster, Body Count
Era-defining but because of that extremely dated. Hard hitting but basic beats without a ton of variety. His delivery is extreme and the material explosive, covering police violence, domestic/family abuse, racism, sexism (both pro and con), money, drugs, tits, ass - the whole gamut. It really seems like he had a ton to get off his chest in the late 80s/early 90s, said his peice, and moved on. The hardcore track is a really funny amalgam of hardcore punk and hair metal - what are the wierd white kids in LA in 1989 doing? Let's show that we can do that too!
Idk I'm just not really interested but not bad
Poop
I knew Ice T was a rapper in his previous life. I've enjoyed him as a character on Law & Order. I'm not a big rap fan, but this album was at least interesting.
Oh man, I’m an Ice-T fan from way back! I have kind of been lying to you all, saying I was a metalhead in my younger years and that any other music was lame to me. Well….There was the gangster rap phase from my middle school years into high school years. It's weird to say, but I was introduced to NWA and 2 Live Crew through church. Told you it was weird. It wasn’t in church, but on a trip with our church youth group. Several of us were in the car of a high schooler who had their license and NWA and 2 Live Crew blasting. Above everything, we thought it was funny. We’d never heard these kinds of words said in music. Most of us had only ever heard Run DMC. We didn't even realize we were listening to two genres of rap, NWA being gangsta rap and with 2 Live Crew that Miami bass sound. I must have bought Ice T’s album called Power by that time, and I remember loving it. Ice T’s voice sounded cool. Even back then, for me, if the “vocals” sounded cool, I was in. None of us country white boys understood what the rappers were talking about. Didn’t have any clue that some, or all, of the stuff they were talking about was real. It was almost like they were war reporters in Vietnam or the Iragi’s skirmishes. After just listening to the Beastie Boys’ License To Ill a few days ago, O.G. is leaps and bounds above it when it comes to rapping and the music. Plus, where the Beastie Boys were just making up stories, Ice-T is rapping about his life in gangs, his influences, people he knows, censorship, how being a famous rapper aint' all it's cracked up to be. The rapping is tight, the lyrics are compelling and the beats for the time are killer. The album is basically Ice T’s bonafides as being the first gangster rapper and if he isn’t, he’s at least the first one to make it big. As a special treat, he even includes a song from his metal band Body Count on this album. Body Count rocks hard. I remember buying their debut album with the Cop Killer song on it that caused all the controversy. Body Count is pretty underrated as a metal band and they still put music out. If you’re a rap fan and have never heard Ice-T and think he’s just an actor, you need to hear this album. It brings back memories of a simpler time, really. Ice-T really does prove he's the Original Gangster with this record.
Great energy, creative beats and mix of genres
Never watched CSI or whatever weekly procedural show he is on, so I kind of think of Ice T mostly as a rapper. Great album that's aged remarkably well, even if at the time, he was actually on the older side compared to other rappers coming up around this time.
Long before he was a reality TV star and even longer before he was arresting pedos on Law and Order: SVU, Ice-T was making albums that go hard AF. I’m sure many will be turned off by the blunt delivery of his rhymes, but the lyricism is so good you’ll have to overlook that. Not the smoothest flow in the 90s rap game, but there’s a lot to like on this album if you’re a fan of the genre like myself. I actually thought his best track on here was ‘Body Count’, backed by his heavy metal band of the same name that he would later go on to make many records with as their front man. This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed the raw emotion and surprisingly good production. Low-end 4/5 for me
It's not really "for" me, and I wasn't really that into it, although I do support the messages behind it.
What I’ve learned from this list is I really like Ice T. Meaningful lyrics, sick loops, and skits that aren’t just about having sex or making drug deals. “Body Count” and “Midnight” go fucking hard man.
Ni intentándolo puedo hacer que me guste el rap. Este álbum es todo lo que no me gusta del estilo, cansino y monótono. Se salva su denuncia social y la canción “Body Count”, en la que extrañamente abandona la monotonía y se pone rockero. Lo demás, para mí, olvidable.
I liked the New Jack Swing of this, and I also felt that this was full of thesis statements, most of which I appreciated. I liked the track where he was talking about his creative process.
one of the most striking and weird careers imaginable and this is probably his best work
Apologies in advance, because I'm going to derail an Ice T album to talk about Taylor Swift for a minute. Swift just release "The Life of a Showgirl" and has, for once, been facing a lot of critique even from longtime fans. I'm a longtime listener, and I do think she has shown a good ability to write about things in an evocative way, but there's also been a years-long commentary from fans that she's this generation's Shakespeare, a poet, a master lyricist...and for a while, here and there, I'd see comments encouraging these people to go listen to Leonard Cohen or Sufjan Stevens. As much as I enjoy Swift's work, the fans making those claims do usually consider "elogies" a "get your thesaurus and look it up" sort of word, and I think this response is fair. Recently more and more of those comments have cropped up and we've pushed beyond the Joni Mitchell comparisons into Kendrick Lamar (an easy one since he featured on "Bad Blood") into something very interesting....music fans encouraging Swift fans to look to rap music if they're interested in wordplay, songwriting, and academic approaches to writing lyrics. I was unfamiliar with Ice T as a musician, so I was very intrigued to start listening this today and realize that I was being served a timely example for those comments. "Mind Over Matter" is where I really started to tune in, because it occurred to me that we're in such a valley of anti-intellectualism that it's hard to believe someone could release this track today and not just get clowned on. If anything, you might be able to take the "power of positive thinking" angle and flip it into an MLM or something, but there's more to the track than that portion and it follows up with "Ed" who had a short temper and ended up dead. "Straight Up N***a" does a lot more critical analysis of a term and the institutional politics of the world than I've heard in some leftist organizing meetings, and in a much shorter time frame, "Prepare to Die" continues this later. And I guess now he's on Law & Order?
Before this, I mostly knew Ice-T from his Body Count days, but his rap hits just as hard. O.G. Original Gangster shows how sharp and versatile he really is, blending street storytelling with killer beats and a ton of confidence. “New Jack Hustler” stands out as one of the best tracks here, with Ice-T at his most focused and intense. I also loved the samples in “Body Count,” especially the guitar riff from Black Sabbath’s self-titled song and John Bonham’s drums from “When the Levee Breaks.” Those touches gave it a gritty, rock-infused edge that tied perfectly to his crossover with Body Count. The Halloween theme sample in “The Tower” was another awesome surprise that fit the dark tone perfectly. Favorite song: Body Count
meh
Gear: 64 Audio Duo Artwork: 😎😎😎 Production: 🥩🤨🆗 Music: 🎤🔪🧠 Ratinng: 🧋🧋(🧋)/5
I owned this album, so it was very familiar to me. I was into Public Enemy at the time, fresh out of college, and shared the anger of my generation at how screwed up the world had become, so I certainly understood the anger that permeated most of Ice-T’s tracks, even if I had little understanding of the gang violence and drug culture of South Central and Compton (NWA and Ice Cube were also hitting it big at the time). I shared Ice-T’s frustration with the powers-that-be and, like him, wanted nothing to do with the emerging Gulf War. The lyrics are profane, but the samples and tunes are solid.
man this is classic and still solid to listen to
bissl zu lang
ACAB
Ice-T aka de König Water-T erinnert mich zu fest a Rick & Morty zum ihn jetzt no chöne ernst z lose. Aber für Old-School Hiphop Hains eig no ganz solid gfunde und het mi 0 gstört. 3 mal es get swiftyyy und shit on the flooooor!
Wiedermal es Album bim Autofahre glosst, und denn na hood-sound. Abe rhan mi nöd so krass gfühlt und meh als erwarted enjoyed, aber halt doch immer na 90s rap. Darum gids 2 OG gangster für das Album
Not for me
Damn he's cool The "First Impression" interlude is really cool and works so well with the opening track Some lyrics aged poorly tho, all this "I write rhymes like algebra" is so late 80's - early 90's "Bitches 2" is really nice, so distorted but nice Its pretty rough but I see the vision and respect his social stances
Hips and hops
A little ironic, self-reflective, funny and above all else fun to listen to.
3/10
Meh. Actor acting like a rapper.
A revelation
Average score: 2.6/5 (rounding down, rating excludes most of the filler tracks) i have put this one off for several weeks for a couple reasons: 1. this is a whopping 24 tracks long (70+ minutes) 2. it's fucking Ice-T. at this point, i just wanted get this over with so i can proceed with this album list. as expected, it's super dated and corny hip-hop about how big bad and tough Ice-T supposedly is. i don't doubt this might've done numbers back in thr 90s, but it doesn't age well at all for first-time listeners today Midnight was alright i guess. i'm a sucker for a Black Sabbath sample
Maybe I wasn’t in the right mindset for this… or maybe it’s because I can’t really relate to the deeper messages, but I just couldn’t get in to this record. Revolutionary for its time, I’m sure. It’s just not for me.
Delightful. 5
Goes so hard
I enjoyed going back to listen to this record. It's easy to forget how Ice T started, as we are all used to seeing him on the thousands of episodes of SVU, and he never was a close to as successful as a rapper as he has been acting. But back in the day, he was one of the pioneers of gangsta rap, and a great one at that. I remember New Jack Hustler coming out in the early 90s and though that was an excellent song, so it was cool to go back and revisit this. The rest of the record wasn't quite as great as this, but it was still very good. Especially liked Midnight, including Ice T sampling Black Sabbath! A blast from the past. Happy this was on here.
I don't give a f*** either
Ice T was not great at rapping but he might want to go back after War of the Worlds
Maybe it’s for the best that I-T has stuck to acting…
One of the better offerings of early 90s rap. Plenty of decent tracks to chose from, good variety, nice choice of samples, would listen again. 3.5 stars.
I was able to get through my commute listening to this, I may finish the album (I got through about half of it) but still not a genre I'm going to listen to on my own.
A stylistic classic, but … eh?
I war thinking that I was listening Vanilla Ice and I was waiting for 'Alright stop, collaborate and listen'
- Old School Hip Hop ist einfach nicht mein Genre - Habe nicht das ganze Album gehört Topsong: Mind over Matter