O.G. Original Gangster
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Albums:
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O.G. Original Gangster
- Artist: Ice-T
- Rating:
- Release Date: May 14, 1991
- Total Time: 72:17
- Type: Contains explicit content, Lyrics are included with the album
- Genre: Rap
Review
One of gangsta rap's defining albums, O.G. Original Gangster is a sprawling masterpiece that stands far and away as Ice-T's finest hour. Taken track by track, O.G. might not seem at first like the product of a unified vision; perspective-wise, it's all over the map. There's perceptive social analysis, chilling violence, psychological storytelling, hair-trigger rage, pleas for solutions to ghetto misery, cautionary morality tales, and cheerfully crude humor in the depictions of sex and defenses of street language. But with a few listens, it's possible to assimilate everything into a complex, detailed portrait of Ice-T's South Central L.A. roots -- the album's contradictions reflect the complexities of real life. That's why the more intelligent, nuanced material isn't negated by the violence and sexism -- both of which, incidentally, are held relatively in check, with the former having been reshaped into a terrifying but inescapable fact of life. That isn't to say that O.G. Original Gangster is designed to appeal to delicate intellectual sensibilities; it's still full of raw, street-level aggression that makes no apologies or concessions. That goes for the music as well as the lyrics. The beats are a little too hard-driving and jittery to really breathe like funk, which only adds to the dark, claustrophobic feel of the production. Ice smoothly keeps up with the music's furious pace and also debuts his soon-to-be-notorious metal band Body Count on one track. That kind of artistic ambition is all over the album, whether in the lean musical attack or the urgent rhymes. O.G. Original Gangster is a certifiable gangsta rap classic, and arguably the most realistic, unvarnished representation of a world Ice-T was the first to chronicle on record. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi| O.G. Love (2003 Album by Jonny U) | |
| O.G. Original Gangster [12" Single] (1991 Album by Ice-T) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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O.G. Original Gangster
- "Original Gangsta" redirects here. Not to be confused with the 1996 film Original Gangstas.
| O.G. Original Gangster | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Ice-T | ||||
| Released | May 14, 1991 | |||
| Recorded | Syndicate Studios West, Widetracks, Dodge City and Fox Studios L.A. 1990-Mid January 1991 | |||
| Genre | West Coast hip hop, gangsta rap, Heavy Metal | |||
| Length | 72:17 | |||
| Label | Rhyme Syndicate/ Sire/Warner Bros. Records 26492 |
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| Producer | Ice-T DJ Aladdin Afrika Islam DJ SLJ Bilal Bashir |
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| Ice-T chronology | ||||
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O.G. Original Gangster is the fourth album by Ice-T. Released in 1991, the album has been praised by many as the artist's best.[1][2] The album introduces the band Body Count, whose thrash metal sound is in sharp contrast to the rest of the album's material. The whole album has also been made into a video.
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  [3] |
| Robert Christgau | (A)[4] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (A)[5] |
| RapReviews.com |  [6] |
| Rolling Stone |  [7] |
O.G. Original Gangster peaked at #9 on Billboard magazine's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at #15 on the Billboard 200.[8] The album was ranked at #25 in Melody Maker's list of the top 30 albums of 1991,[9] and was featured in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums [10] and the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[11]
Allmusic - 5 stars - "A sprawling masterpiece that stands far and away as Ice-T's finest hour." Rolling Stone (6/13/91) - 4 stars - Excellent - "Ice-T has forged a flexible, hyperliterate style that sacrifices none of hip-hop's rhythmic momentum... his slice-of-street-life stories and badass parables offer a fascinating glimpse into a half-hidden world." Melody Maker (12/91) - "Tight, intelligent and matchless musically."
Track listing
| # | Title | Time | Producer(s) | Performer(s) | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Home of the Bodybag" | 2:12 | DJ Aladdin SLJ Ice-T |
Ice-T |
|
| 2 | "First Impression" | 0:45 | Ice-T | ||
| 3 | "Ziplock" | 1:20 | Afrika Islam Ice-T |
Ice-T | |
| 4 | "Mic Contract" | 4:24 | SLJ DJ Aladdin Ice-T |
Ice-T Donald D |
|
| 5 | "Mind over Matter" | 4:12 | DJ Aladdin Ice-T |
Ice-T |
|
| 6 | "New Jack Hustler" | 4:43 | DJ Aladdin | Ice-T DJ Aladdin |
|
| 7 | "Ed" | 1:10 | Beatmaster V Nat the Cat Ice-T |
Ice-T | |
| 8 | "Bitches 2" | 5:24 | DJ Aladdin SLJ Ice-T |
Ice-T Charlie Jam |
|
| 9 | "Straight up Nigga" | 3:43 | SLJ DJ Aladdin Ice-T |
Ice-T DJ Aladdin |
|
| 10 | "O.G. Original Gangster" | 4:13 | DJ Aladdin SLJ Ice-T |
Ice-T G³ |
|
| 11 | "The House" | 0:57 | DJ Aladdin Ice-T |
Ice-T | |
| 12 | "Evil E-What About Sex?" | 0:46 | Ice-T | Ice-T, Evil E | |
| 13 | "Fly By" | 3:29 | Afrika Islam Ice-T |
Ice-T Nat the Cat Donald D |
|
| 14 | "Midnight" | 5:49 | DJ Aladdin SLJ |
Ice-T Randy Mac |
|
| 15 | "Fried Chicken" | 1:00 | DJ Aladdin SLJ |
Ice-T Prince Whipper Whip |
|
| 16 | "M.V.P.S." | 4:20 | Afrika Islam Ice-T |
Ice-T |
|
| 17 | "Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous" | 3:51 | Afrika Islam Ice-T |
Ice-T Sean E Mac |
|
| 18 | "Body Count" | 6:07 | Ice-T | Ice-T Ernie C Beatmaster V Moose Man D Rock |
|
| 19 | "Prepared to Die" | 0:39 | Ice-T | Ice-T | |
| 20 | "Escape from the Killing Fields" | 2:36 | Afrika Islam Ice-T |
Ice-T |
|
| 21 | "Street Killer" | 0:41 | DJ Aladdin SLJ Ice-T |
Ice-T Special K |
|
| 22 | "Pulse of the Rhyme" | 4:17 | DJ Aladdin Ice-T |
Ice-T |
|
| 23 | "The Tower" | 3:58 | Bilal Bashir Ice-T |
Ice-T Sean E Sean Al Patrome Mello |
|
| 24 | "Ya Shoulda Killed Me Last Year" | 1:41 | Ice-T | Ice-T |
References
- ^ Gates, Henry Louis; Appiah, KwameAnthony (2005). Africana: An A-To-Z Reference of Writers, Musicians, and Artists of the African American Experience. Running Press. p. 297. ISBN 0-7624-2042-1.
- ^ Taylor, Steve (2004). The A to X of Alternative Music. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 126–127. ISBN 0-8264-8217-1.
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Robert Christgau review
- ^ Benard, James (May 24, 1991). "O.G. Original Gangster:Music Review:Entertainment Weekly". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,314429,00.html. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
- ^ RapReviews.com review
- ^ Rolling Stone review
- ^ "Charts and Awards for Ice-T". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p89063. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
- ^ "The Top 30 Albums of 1991". Melody Maker. December 1, 1991.
- ^ "100 Best Rap Albums". The Source #100. January, 1998. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ Dimery, Robert, ed. (2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/steveparker/1001albums.htm.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "Ice-T entry at The-Breaks.com". http://www.the-breaks.com/search.php?term=Ice-T&type=6. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ "Film samples at The-Breaks.com". http://www.the-breaks.com/film.html. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
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Mentioned in
Ice-T: Montreux Live in Concert
(1995 Music Film)
Home Invasion
(1993 Album by Ice-T)
Body Count
(1992 Album by Body Count)
The Classic Collection
(1993 Album by Ice-T)
O.G. Original Gangster
(song)
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