There’s a new Kool G Rap album due some time in the near future titled Return of the Don, featuring Sean Price, Raekwon and Saigon. Following on from the KRS-One LP ranking I thought I’d take a shot at ranking the discography of the greatest MC of all time.
Wanted: Dead or Alive
The definitive Kool G Rap experience, as Large Professor and G combined forces (‘overseen’ by Mr. Eric Barrier, natch) to deliver cutting-edge beats to match the state-of-the-art rapping on show. ‘Kool Is Back,’ ‘Bad To The Bone’ and ‘Death Wish’ are pure dynamite; ‘Talk Like Sex’ takes dirty rapp’s to the next stage of evolution (although it had the unfortunate side-effect of providing a blueprint for Necro’s entire career) and ‘Streets of New York’ is essentially the nineties answer to ‘The Message’ in all the right ways.
Live and Let Die
The pairing of Sir Jinx and G Rap is the most inspired piece of casting since Danny Aiello replaced Bob DeNiro as Sal in Do The Right Thing, since he was busy filming the wholly unnecessary remake of Cape Fear. The tape and CD versions had three early Trackmasterz tunes hurriedly tacked-on in an attempt to appease salty east coast rap fans, but they don’t gel with the flow of the rest of the album at all, making the original vinyl release the best way to experience KGR’s tales of mafia rip-offs, stick-ups on the iron horse and brutal beheadings of Mattel toys in retribution for coitus interruptus. The strength of Live and Let Die is the variety on offer, as it showcases the best of what the Kool Genius of Rap brings to the table – blistering wordplay, engaging narratives, over-the-top ultraviolence and a twisted sense of humour.
Road To The Riches
After the jaw-dropping opening salvo of the title track, ‘It’s A Demo’ and ‘Men At Work,’ the group’s debut takes a few strange turns with an unconvincing and completely out of character attempt at a ballad, a bizarre Gary Numan tribute and a b-side that never really takes off until ‘Poison’ arrives. This once again brings up the idea that I was discussing the other week, as to whether the strength of an album’s opening three songs can overshadow any other shortcomings the record might have. In that regard, Road To The Riches still qualifies as a classic based on the strength of how it begins, but drops it down a couple of spots when compared to G’s overall catalogue and fails to include early singles such as ‘Riker’s Island,’ ‘I’m Fly’ and ‘Rhyme Time.’
4,5,6
The highlights of this troubled project are incredible, with ‘Executioner Style,’ ‘Take ‘Em To War’ and the title track positively dripping with menace and atmosphere, but it’s not all clear sailing. The duet with Nas serves as a passing of the torch, but it wasn’t until the superior remixes from Salaam Remi and the Vinyl Reanimators that ‘Fast Life’ really hit it’s straps, while ‘Money On My Brain’ is weighed down by an overly familiar Herbie Hancock loop and the original mix of ‘It’s A Shame’ pales in comparison to the Dr. Butcher mix, leaving only nine new songs on offer.
Roots of Evil
Worth a look-in thanks to ‘One Dark Night,’ ‘Thugs Love Story’ and ‘Foul Cats,’ but suffers from an obsession with Scarface and Godfather scenarios.
Riches, Royalty and Respect
The highlight of this album is ‘AmeriKKKa’s Nightmare,’ which combines a great Alchemist beat with a Havoc feature. Not to say the rest of it isn’t worth a listen, as it’s got the best beats G has flexed over since 4,5,6 but G lacks that vocal urgency that made his earlier work so compelling.
Half A Klip
The story behind how this EP got made is a lot more entertaining than the finished product. I liked ‘Risin’ Up’ a lot though.
Click of Respect
This may have rated higher if the weed carriers hadn’t been involved. ‘Air You Out’ and ‘Blackin Out’ work though.
The Giancana Story
I have three different versions of this album but don’t enjoy any of them. I also wrote a feature of the ill-fated story of it’s creation for Redbull Music Acadmemy back in 2015.
agree with you, except for the low ranking of the rawkus album. Tracks like “first nigga”, “the streets”, “it’s nuthin'”, “thug chronicles” or “where ya at” were nice and make g.s. a better album than c.o.r. at least.
Im born in 91, and “My Life” off Giancana, was one of those early magical hip-hop moments for me. I feel like you are trying to destroy one of my introductions to Hip-Hop by placing Giancana at the bottom. F U Robbie
Koolrap is one of those legends that didnt keep the formula tight. Greatest hits of is the only way to go with g rap.the trackmasters album is the only real gem here.
Yeah, I’d just swap ‘Road to the riches’ and ‘Live and Let Die’ around. And anything after ‘4, 5, 6’ can just be ignored.
Live & Let Die is classic, and Jinx knocks it out of the park with his beats, but I don’t think those Trackmasterz cuts disrupt it at all. They were still in their early Frank Nitty era, and I always though their three tracks fit in pretty solidly with the rest. And, I mean, fuckin’ “Ill Street Blues,” c’mon….
I didn’t find that G’s ballad on Road To The Riches that bad at all, at least compared to Shan’s “Left Me Lonely” or any of Kane’s attempts. And “Trilogy Of Terror,” “Rhymes I Express,” and, homophobia aside, “Truly Yours” all hit hard. “Cars” is weird, but I don’t hate it.
And dope as those remixes are, I love the original “Fast Life.” One of those times were the proto-jiggy steez worked amazingly.
good work Robbie, keep ’em coming….Agree fully with the order also.
Cosign drewhuge.
The fact that Devin the Dude and Snoop Dogg track “Keep Goin’ was kept off the Rawkus joint was criminal.
1. Wanted: Dead or Alive
2. Live and Let Die
3. Road to the Riches
4. Roots of Evil
5. The Giancana Story
6. 4, 5, 6
7. Riches, Royalty and Respect
8. Click of Respect
9. Once Upon a Crime (I know. Fuck you.)
10. Half a Klip
You’re wrong about the Trackmasters joints, Ill Street Blues is one of G Rap’s finest moments. Also, Buckwild’s remix of Fast Life shits all over the Salaam Remi version.
And lastly, on a side note, Do the Right Thing was filmed in mid 1987, Cape Fear was filmed in late 1990, and in the interim De Niro starred in 8 other films.
@Slappy: Not according to Spike Lee’s book about the making of the film. He specifically mentions it.
I’m also not discrediting ‘Ill Street Blues,’ just pointing out that it doesn’t fit with the Jinx sound very well.
As for the Necro album…I may need another fifteen years before I can accept the existance of that thing and actually listen to it.
Good read Made me go back and listen to all the polo and Butcher production (456) again. 100% agree w your list. I lost interest after the Roots lp. Fuck Necro! A complete waste of time! U right bout the De Niro shit. He didnt have time to do the right thing (!) cus of Cape Fear btw
@Robbie and Pete: Okay, I’ll take your word on the Cape Fear thing, although it still seems inaccurate to me.
But back to the point of the thread: Once Upon a Crime is not a great album, it’s not even a particularly good album, but it’s decent and totally passable. And it’s Kool G Rap for crying out loud.
I understand why Necro gets hated on, but I’ve always liked his production (when he goes straight hip-hop; none of that metal-rap bullshit). And his lyrical style is clearly influenced (maybe even cribbed) from G Rap, so the project has more substance and credibility than most heads give it credit for.
@Slappy: I enjoyed the first couple of Necro albums but the schtick had worn thin long before the Rap Godfathers thing. That being said, maybe I’ll get really drunk and force myself to sit through it this weekend in the interests of scientific accuracy.
@Robbie: Nice! I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Pretty accurate but I’d personally give 4,5,6 and Roots of Evil more credit cause even though the whole mafioso thing is kinda corny his rapping on both those albums is top notch front to back.
“Hitman’s Diary” is one of his best on Roots of Evil
The Necro collab album was just a sad sorry hustle. 1 guy desperate to mix it up with a legend and a legend looking for some quick cash.
You are missing out. The necro album is dope
No it’s a great album
I have to say I don’t get your dismissal of Roots of Evil. It has some of the best emceeing in hip hop history. Period. “Mobstas” is one of the most intricate, densely layered songs in rap, and didn’t even get a mention? Are you sure you listened to the album more than once? Clever rhymes, complicated word structures, flow, cadence are all unparalleled on that album. I suggest you listen to it again, and this time really LISTEN to it.
I’m open minded when it comes to rap, I can find something in just about everything. Necro had some great sample choices on his first few albums but I could never get past his rapping. In fact, it rendered his music unlistenable. It was without a doubt, awful rapping from his voice to cadence, to subject matter.
You have the order of albums correct, but why you hating on Trackmasters on Live and Let Die (my #1 KGR album)? You know they did Ill Street Blues which is the most well known song off of that album, right? Straight Jacket and Fuck U Man are dope too.
Live & Let Die is one of my favorite rap albums period
I’m not ‘hating’ on the Trackmasterz songs, it’s just that they stand out like a sore thumb in terms of the sound of the rest of it.
Roots of Evil is a good album – just not as great as the first four listed.
@Caesar: I feel you, but I personally like Necro. His voice doesn’t bother me at all, and his immature subject matter is all part of the fun. But I do agree with the popular consensus that he’s a better producer than rapper.
I am a little perplexed why so many heads prefer his music from the late 90’s, though. I think he reached his peak a little later, with ‘Brutality Part 1’ and the first round of Non-Phixion solo albums. Seriously, revisit ‘Brutality Part 1’ and tell me that it’s not a superbly produced album.
Necro’s work on ‘Once Upon a Crime’ is far from his best, and that goes triple for G Rap. But the senseless hate thrown upon the album is ridiculous. It’s certainly better than Half a Klip, that’s for damn sure.
@Robbie: On the strength of your recommendation I’m revisiting 4, 5, 6. It’s been a few years since I last gave it a spin, and maybe I’ve been too hard on it. Let’s see.
All I need is
Road to Riches
Wanted Dead Or Alive
4,5,6
Roots of Evil.
Everything else can fall anywhere it pleases but these are my favorite G Rap Albums.
I hate the way cats put Live and let die so high, its was a move I never thought G Rap had to make…For me it’s kind of his weakest album.
@DialTone: Word, I used to feel that way, too. The first time I heard Live and Let Die I thought G Rap had taken too much influence from the Geto Boys and all the West Coast cats that blew up after his second album. And I’ve always hated the cover.
But over the years Live and Let Die has become the KGR album that I return to the most, even more than Wanted: Dead or Alive. So I finally had to throw up my hands and admit that it’s one of his best.
Are you forgetting about men at work on road to riches ? It’s gotta be his quickest lyrical display ever … Up there with daddy freddy on record breakers
#UnpopularOpinion: Kool G Rap was the Betamax of Hardcore rap and the minidisc of Mafioso/thug rap. He didn’t capture the public’s imagination like NWA/Geto Boys/etc did in the late 80s and was eclipsed by Nas/Raekwon/Mobb Deep/MOP/etc in the 90s. For me, I file him with King Tee, Heavy D, The ‘liks and The Beatnuts = far from wack but never got me excited.
The Necro/KGR “Godfathers” was a decent enough album – but yeh, it felt like Oasis collabing with Paul Weller or Lady Gaga with Madonna.
Wanted Dead Or Alive, Road To The Riches then follow accordingly. That early tone of his ie on something like ‘Rikers Island’,’Rhymes I Express’ or ‘Men At Work’ is still hard to beat pure killer.
@Dino: That last paragraph is genius.
Robbie’s list is correct. Kool G Rap started off a complete artist- Live & Let Die is best- and then turned into fake ganger, ‘mafia’ (hah hah) dick suck parody. He could still get off a good flow now and then but artistically, he’s been as bankrupt as probably is finanically. Click of Respect, hah hah
what about rated xxx by KGR