The Story behind Kool G Rap’s 4,5,6,

Kool G Rap will always be known as one of the greatest emcees to not come from NYC but hip hop period. From the way he he paints pictures of Visceral Street Tales and Complex wordplay. Albums such as “Road to Riches” “Wanted Dead or Alive” and “Let and Live Die” laid down the blueprint from many up and coming rappers to study. You can hear alot of Kool G Rap’s influence in many emcees such as Nas, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Eminem and most notably Big Pun whom said that Kool G Rap “fathered his style”.

LIVE AND LET DIE CONTROVERSY

Live and Let Die would remain as possibly one of the hardest albums from 1992. The Sound had a mixture of that early 90s hardcore in your face East Coast sound. Supplied by DJ Polo and DJ Sir Jinx, Live and Let Die should be in lane in lining to the hardcore gangster rap classics from that period. The media controversy involving “Live and Let Die”(which depicted Two police officers being hanged) put a halt to the momentum due to Ice T’s “Cop Killer Controversy”. Warner Bros was gridlocked in this fight with the government involving freedom of speech for its artists and “Live and Let Die” was on the verge of being shelved. The album was released a year later but the damage had me been done momentum wise due to the controversy. This also led to his contract being terminated and Kool G Rap wanted to go another artistic direction.

TRANSITION TO A BRAND NEW SOUND.

But for 4,5,6, G Rap wanted to go for another type of sound. DJ Polo for the first time was absent from a Kool G Rap project, Sir Jinx wasn’t apart of the project either. The game was changing, Mafiaso rap was slowly becoming a thing due to the rise of Mobb Deep’s The Infamous, Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, JayZ’s Reasonable Doubt(incoming) , AZ’s Doe or Die and Nas transitioning from Nasty Nas to Nas Escobar. The sound moved away from the dark elements of those early gangsta rap albums to more in-depth drug tales and Mafioso stories being rhymed over R&B sampled flavored beats.

PASSING THE TORCH

Around this time, Another Queens releative was making noise amongst the industry. His name was Nasir Jones aka Nas. Nas had already dropped his groundbreaking classic “Illmatic’ which set the bar to a another plateau. Kool G Rap reached out to him and they worked on the single titled “Fast Life” which sampled the classic track “Happy” from the Group “Surface” was probably one of the few radio play type songs on 4,5,6. Focusing on the flashing side of the drug game:

4,5,6,’s other lead single “It’s a Shame” also follows a simlar format in terms of production direction as well as direction. “It’s a Shame” contains soulful elements as well potrays the extravagant lifestyle behind being the biggest Herion Kingpin in New York City. The way G Rap paints these vivid pictures with his wordplay, You have the vision like that of a drugpin in the 70s riding throughout the city in a fancy limousine showcasing his wealth and power.

DOES THE ALBUM LIVE UP TO THE HYPE?

Don’t be fooled by the lead singles. “4,5,6” runs with the recipe of what G Rap is known to deliver. Grimey street/drug/gun tells over Hard pounding production. Fans who loved Live and Let Die would definitely love “Executioner Style”, Take Em To War, and “Ghetto Knows” Kool G’s specialty is painting movie plots and scenarios within his storytelling and 4,5,6, is further advancement of G Rap’s genius. Definitely worth checking out!