O.G. Original Gangster

Classic early 90s west coast gangster rap, braggadocio is the order of the day as Ice raps about people being bitches (both genders), gangster hustle shit, and guns going bang. Plenty of mid song skit style breakdowns but Ice changes things up with the hard metal "Body Count" that would be spun off into a legit side project by the same name. They are, of course, infamous for the "Cop Killer" song, but then Ice-T would spend the last 23 years playing a cop on TV, really makes you think...

Oh, and fuck Tipper Gore and the PMRC

This is decent but longer than it needs to be. Body Count is interesting, but sounds pretty dated.

Production like Public Enemy, with lyrics like NWA - but more direct. Might actually prefer his records with Body Count though.

An absolute classic with some great songs like Escape From The Killing Fields, The Tower, Mind Over Matter and the title track.
The albums balances the Gangsta with socially critical and pure hiphop tracks and that what keeps this album interesting enough over the (long) running time.
If Ice-T would've culled a few of the lesser songs and had taken it easy on the skits, it would've been a perfect one.

ICE-T 1991 FOOL! Ice really lays out his personal manifesto, with deep love and also hatred for his native South Central. His chops are real, his sampling is on point. The general vibe is a little dated but still decent. The end shout out track is the punkest thing recorded in the 90s.

Iv not listened to much Ice T apart from his big hits. Enjoyed this more than I was expecting but my bar was pretty low, some of the beats are a bit date vs modern hip hop. Somewhere between a 2 and 3,

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.

What is with rap albums and feeling they need to make their albums so long? Even the ones I like can usually shave a solid twenty minutes off the run time. Otherwise this album is alright. I like the lyrical content, and it is indeed pretty funny like many here say, but there's something here keeping it down, probably the length, honestly. Pretty average otherwise.

I almost entirely forgot that Ice-T was a "hardcore gangsta" rap artist, before becoming a type-casted investigator in every single crime drama television show on TV made in the last decade.

Honestly, this isn't all that special. The lyrics are largely sophomoric posturing (i.e. 'Ziploc'). The rhymes are mostly pretty obvious ends, slants, and identical. The verse timing is mostly repetitive and don't do much to play off of or enhance the tracks, with the notable exception of 'Lifestyles of the Rick and Infamous'. Some of the tracks are fun (i.e. 'Bitches 2'), with a ton of samples and layers, but in general they don't stand out from the crowd all that much.

It's unfortunate because Ice-T seems like a pretty thoughtful guy who would have something important to say. There are glimpses of that in 9 tracks after 'M.V.P.s', for sure.

Anyhow, if you want high quality early 90's rap, there is plenty of it. Let's put Jurassic 5's 'Quality Control' in here, instead!

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.

Some decently entertaining stuff here but overall this album feels very dated and doesn't bring nearly enough to the table to justify its long runtime. Not to mention the heaps of casual misogyny.

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.

Really good when it's good but just as bad when it's bad.
Horrible album cover!

Og