On this date in 1993, legendary Corona, Queens crime rhyme king Kool G. Rap and his longtime partner DJ Polo dropped their third and final album together Live And Let Die on the Juice Crew’s famous Cold Chillin’ Records imprint.
Even though Warner Brothers refused to distribute G. Rap’s album due to the graphic cover art and lyrical content, Live And Let Die is still considered one of G. Rap’s best albums of his career. Produced primarily by Ice Cube’s Lench Mob’s Sir Jinx, the production had a constant West Coast feel, which was saturated with criminal content or “gangsta rap” during the early to mid-90s.
From robbing his Italian mob plug on “On The Run” to killing a drug partner who was delinquent in money owed “Ill Street Blues”, Live And Let Die focused on the intricacies of criminal life; the ups and the downs. The original 17-track album also featured a classic track called “Two To The Head” featuring Ice Cube, Bushwick Bill and Scarface. The 2008 bonus disc featured several remixes of “On The Run” and “Ill Street Blues.
Salute to G. Rap and Polo for this timeless and classic piece of Hip Hop history!
With December 2018’s Everythangs Corrupt, Ice Cube released his first solo album in eight years and further cemented his place as one of the most (and only) relevant Rap artists with a career stretching back to the mid-1980s. Always politically minded, the West Coast icon used the LP to comment on issues of today which, sadly, echo some of the same topics he’s rapped about on albums like 1990’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted. For starters, there was lead single “Arrest The President,” which he followed up with “Chase Down The Bully,” aimed in part at the racist “pride” in Charlottesville, Virginia. True to his G-Funk roots, Cube also showcased his love for Parliament-Funkadelic and George Clinton, on “The New Funkadelic.” He also kept Everythangs Corrupt short but funky with Too Short on “Ain’t Got No Haters.”
In the newly released music video accompanying the duo’s collaboration, Ice Cube and Too Short rekindle the chemistry they forged on “Ain’t Nothin’ But A Word To Me,” a Sir Jinx-produced record off the Oakland, California rapper’s 1990 album, Short Dog’s In The House. This time around, the collab is produced by another 30-plus-year California legend (and Cube’s Friday co-writer) DJ Pooh. Cube first teased the video for “Ain’t Got No Haters” two weeks ago, featuring a photo of the two dapper gentlemen in suits, standing on a pile of cash. It was an accurate snapshot of the clip, which was shot in black-and-white and directed by Alan Del Rio Ortiz.
Rather than rely on a heavy-handed concept, the music video packs a heavy punch with just the two Rap superstars and animation by Kevin Eskew. From bars of gold to chunky chains, fine crystal and expensive champagne, the two are surrounded by symbols of their longstanding success in Hip-Hop culture Between the two of them, Ice Cube and Too Short have 11 platinum (or higher) albums, 17 top-ten Rap singles, and 67 years on wax. But zero haters.
With December 2018’s Everythangs Corrupt, Ice Cube released his first solo album in eight years and further cemented his place as one of the most (and only) relevant Rap artists with a career stretching back to the mid-1980s. Always politically minded, the West Coast icon used the LP to comment on issues of today which, sadly, echo some of the same topics he’s rapped about on albums like 1990’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted. For starters, there was lead single “Arrest The President,” which he followed up with “Chase Down The Bully,” aimed in part at the racist “pride” in Charlottesville, Virginia. True to his G-Funk roots, Cube also showcased his love for Parliament-Funkadelic and George Clinton, on “The New Funkadelic.” He also kept Everythangs Corrupt short but funky with Too Short on “Ain’t Got No Haters.”
In the newly released music video accompanying the duo’s collaboration, Ice Cube and Too Short rekindle the chemistry they forged on “Ain’t Nothin’ But A Word To Me,” a Sir Jinx-produced record off the Oakland, California rapper’s 1990 album, Short Dog’s In The House. This time around, the collab is produced by another 30-plus-year California legend (and Cube’s Friday co-writer) DJ Pooh. Cube first teased the video for “Ain’t Got No Haters” two weeks ago, featuring a photo of the two dapper gentlemen in suits, standing on a pile of cash. It was an accurate snapshot of the clip, which was shot in black-and-white and directed by Alan Del Rio Ortiz.
Rather than rely on a heavy-handed concept, the music video packs a heavy punch with just the two Rap superstars and animation by Kevin Eskew. From bars of gold to chunky chains, fine crystal and expensive champagne, the two are surrounded by symbols of their longstanding success in Hip-Hop culture Between the two of them, Ice Cube and Too Short have 11 platinum (or higher) albums, 17 top-ten Rap singles, and 67 years on wax. But zero haters.
