Tag: Spice 1

audio review : Amerikkka’s Nightmare ( album ) … Spice 1

audio review : Amerikkka's Nightmare ( album ) ... Spice 1

“Now they try to wonder and figure how the fuck Charles Manson turn himself to a nigger,” Spice 1 says. The first bar of that line doesn’t really make sense, but the second one is a rare moment of metaphorical brilliance from an otherwise run-of-the-mill gangsta rapper. You listen to Spice 1 albums not for his wit but for his cap-busting tough talk and the grimy beats they’re presented upon. In that regard, AmeriKKKa’s Nightmare doesn’t disappoint. It’s his third, longest and perhaps best album so far.

D-Boyz Got Love for Me, featuring Jive labelmate E-40, is an odd start, but it’s addictive vibe, led by one of the sickest basslines you ever heard Spice 1 rap to, makes it one of the best songs on the album. The piano-led Tell Me What That Mail Like is another. In almost every case, with the exception of a few G-Funk knock-offs, it’s the music, most of which is carefully produced by Blackjack, that overshadows the vocals to the point where you almost start to wonder if the album would be better as an instrumental.

I don’t know, but the only major gripe I have with the album, other than the fact that Spice 1 insists on dating his songs with “94” references, is the diss song. It’s dedicated to Pooh Man; a “fat-ass pudgy” rapper Spice 1 is apparently beefing with. It’s interesting to hear him go at a real person, but the hook, which makes the artistic blunder of stealing a line from Menace To Society, is awkwardly off-beat. Worse yet, the song, which ends the album, has basically nothing to do with the overall concept.

my rating : 3 of 5

1994

audio review : Platinum OG ( album ) … Spice 1

audio review : Platinum OG ( album ) ... Spice 1

He may have been “blowing” Since 85, but Spice 1 reached his sales peak in 93. 187 He Wrote was his second of three albums in a row to go (RIAA) Gold, so yes he is a Platinum artist. Him being one of the most popular Gangsta rappers of the 1990s is why he’s now considered an OG.

What should be reassuring to longtime fans is that, from the sound of it, this album could’ve easily come out that decade. Everything from the Pac-ready beats to the guest features, including a gang of fellow OGs like Too Short and MC Eiht, suggest a sense of Thuggish nostaglia.

Nothing here nears the level of the best from that era though. That’s most obvious when the album interpolates from said era. Dr Dre, Eazy E, even singer D’Angelo gets jacked to no avail. The freshest song is the one with the oldest verse; Playas Do featuring the late Pimp C.

my rating : 3 of 5

2019

audio review : Throne Of Game ( album ) … Spice 1

audio review : Throne Of Game ( album ) ... Spice 1

The title is a play on Game Of Thrones, but the cover photo brings to mind E-40’s Hall Of Game; an album released the year 2Pac died that features both him and Spice 1. That’s a relevant mention because Spice 1 makes several references to his dead homie here. There’s also a 2017 version of Welcome To The Ghetto and lyrical interpolations of other old Spice 1 songs. Perhaps the rapper; who, with exception of a few verses that have him spitting like the “BG” rappers of today, hasn’t changed much after all these years; is sort of stuck in the past.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing for longtime fans. The nostalgia is as thick as the weed smoke and most of these beats do bang. When the hooks are left to singers with actual talent in that department; the crown goes to D Perry, though the track he’s on sounds more like what should’ve been the outro than an actual song; the album sounds surprisingly good. With that, aside from a more careful mastering job, Throne Of Game would be better if it were edited down to, say, the best twelve cuts. The “Fuckboy” Flex diss, for example, is mixtape filler.

my rating : 3 of 5

2017