Click of Respect
Kool G Rap’s influence on all New York gangster thug rhymers should be as noticeable as Yao Ming standing up…well, anywhere. Instead, he’s often as overlooked asJennifer Lopez’s back-up dancer ex-husband (whatever his name is). The 5 Family Click of emcee’s featured here are his real life family. G Rap is the rap Tony Soprano with his wife Ma Barker, her brother Hammerz, and cousin Glory Wars along for the ride. Unfortunately, rap posse nepotism isn’t always the best thing (seeNas’QB’s Finest). On "I Die 4 U" and "Breaker Breaker," neither Hammerz, nor Glory really demonstrate why they should be considered capable emcee’s. Now Ma Barker on the other hand is truly G Rap’s female sound-a-like with a touch ofLil’ Kimsprinkled in for good measure. On "Pimped Out" she raps "it’s strictly sex when I’m hittin’ him/no love, no hugs, no kissing ‘em," while on "I Am What I Am" she boasts that she’s "…like a pimpstress/might be your man’s mistress/y’all b**ches don’t handle your business." Yep, she’ll do you and then leave change on the dresser for you to catch a cab ride home. G Rap flips his trademark rapid-fire, lisp-heavy rhymes about the most clandestine of activities on "Get Da Drop On Em" over a catchy Freeway sample giving out solid instructions on how to peddle dope and pull heists successfully. Most posse records, like this one, suffer the same fate; too many filler emcee’s and rhymes. However, that’s not to say that crew records likeGoodie Mob’sSoul Fooddon’t disprove this theory.-- Dalton Higgins