Ice-T - Home Invasion
This was a pretty bad album from Ice-T but I've heard worse from him. I think that all that "Cop Killer" hoopla clouded his vision. There are a lot of lousy tracks on here like "99 Problems", which Jay-Z took from and made his own version of it for 2003's The Black Album.
A BLISTERING ATTACK ON MIDDLE-BROW AMERICA!!!!
"Home Invasion" ranks with Ice's, and hip-hop's, very best. It is a brutal, honest, and hilarious rant from a man under siege ("Cop Killer" anyone?) shouting to the rafters at the top of his lungs. "That's How I'm Livin'" is, point blank, the best track Ice has thus recorded -brilliantly compelling and authentic. On "I Ain't New Ta This" Ice flips his vocal style right around, coming up with a funky, staccato rhyme pattern. The man is the most skilled rhymer in the rap game, no doubt. Simply, A GREAT F#*@ING ALBUM!
A Letdown at the hoedown
While riding high atop the crest of publicity he garnered from his "Copkiller" publicity and Time-Warner pullout, expectations at the time of this release were pretty damn high. Probably too high, because "O.G." was a critical high point to slam all others to the ground.I would have been satisfied if this album continued in the same vein, but unfortunately it's wayyy too patchy. Too many throwaway tracks like "99 Problems", "Funky Gribsta" and "Pimp Behind The Wheel" to take it very seriously, although there are more than a few tunes worth owning. You just gotta dig 'em out.
"Gotta Lotta Love" is hated by many, but is one of the only tracks on this album with any substance, so it's essential. Ditto "I Ain't New To This", "That's How I'm Living", and "Message To The Soldier".
Perhaps the worst Ice T CD.
After the often brilliant rap and production of "O.G.", this CD was an extreme letdown, mostly because of Ice's "home invasion" vibe....Ice T lost lots of fans with this one. Most people didn't like the lyrics promoting violent home invasions. Hey Ice, where's the intellectual rap for us, your fans with hearts and brains?
Don't get too excited
The average rating for this album was too high, so I thought I'd bring it down. This album was a great turning point in that it lost Ice-T a lot of its audience. He spent too much time cussing at his critics and enemies and did not offer enough fresh intellectual material to consolidate his thinking audience that he'd rightly earned through "The Iceberg", "O.G." and "Body Count". He also displays a very annoying, immature, aggressive attitude [unique to this album] which makes matters worse. Some Ice-T fans thus try their best to defend this record, but I'm not one of them, despite Ice being my favourite rapper of all time. Although the record is still above the average standard for hiphop album since the Golden Era, there are a lot of very pedestrian tracks on it. Ice-T can rhyme very well, which makes such average rhymes in tracks like "99 problems" look bad. "Addicted to Danger" and "Watch the Ice Break" are very cumbersome. There are some good tracks, but no very good ones. Best track: "That's How I'm Living".
The hardcore rapper's 1993 album featuring 19 tracks. Virgin.
