Wanted: Dead or Alive

• Artist: Kool G Rap & DJ Polo
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 13, 1990
• Total Time: 59:18
• Type: Contains explicit content
• Genre: Rap

Review

Marley Marl remained on board, and Large Professor and Eric B. also hopped on to help produce Kool G Rap & DJ Polo's second album. With a wider range of sounds and the expansion of G Rap's lyrical range, Wanted: Dead or Alive is wholly deserving of classic status. The opening "Streets of New York" remains one of the most thrilling and unique rap singles released; the sparse rhythm, adorned with assured piano runs that complement the song to the point of almost making the song, falls somewhere between a gallop and a strut, and G Rap outlines more vivid scenes than one film could possibly contain. The track cemented Kool G Rap & DJ Polo's role as East Coast legends and showed Kool G Rap's talent as an adept storyteller like nothing before or since. Likewise, "Talk Like Sex" is the nastiest, raunchiest thing he ever recorded, with "I'm pounding you down until your eyeballs pop out" acting as an exemplary claim -- as well as one of the few that is printable -- made in the song. The boasts, as ever, are in no short supply, but "Erase Racism" takes a break from the normal proceedings with guest spots from Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie. It's both funny and sobering, with Biz Markie's Three Dog Night chorus providing comic relief after each verse. Adding yet another dimension to the album, DJ Polo throws in a hip-house instrumental that avoids coming off like a throwaway. This album is only part of a major swarm of brilliant rap records from 1990, but it will never be lost in it. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Streets of New York	Kool G Rap, Large Professor	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(4:19)
Wanted: Dead or Alive	Kool G Rap	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(4:35)
Money in the Bank	Kool G Rap	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(4:59)
Bad to the Bone	Kool G Rap	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(5:22)
Talk Like Sex	Kool G Rap	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(5:11)
Play It Again, Polo	Kool G Rap	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie	(4:07)
Erase Racism	Kool G Rap, Antonio Hardy, Marcel Hall	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(4:32)
Kool Is Back	Kool G Rap	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(3:26)
Play It Kool	Kool G Rap	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(4:31)
Death Wish	Sting, Kool G Rap, Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(4:05)
Jive Talk	Kool G Rap	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(4:36)
The Polo Club	Kool G Rap	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(4:02)
Rikers Island	Kool G Rap	Kool G Rap & DJ Polo	(5:33)

Credits

Kool G Rap (Producer), Large Professor (Producer), Biz Markie (Producer), Dee Joseph (Coordination), Marley Marl (Producer), Anton P. (Producer), Cool V (Producer), Eric B. (Producer), Big Daddy Kane (Performer), Benny Medina (Executive Producer), Tyrone Williams (Executive Producer)