Kool G Rap - Roots of Evil
posted on Sep 13, 2006Kool G Rap - Cannon Fire (Link Expired)
Kool G Rap
Roots of Evil
Down Low Music, 1998
Some hip-hop beefs are legendary stories embellished through infinite retellings. The truth of these tales is lost not in the mists of time, but in codes of silence on the part of the victors and shame on the part of the losers, though outsiders are always willing to claim they know the facts. The story of Kool G Rap getting run out of New York and having to lay low in Arizona for a few years after having offended Eric B is one of these legends. Hip-hop fans didn’t get much evidence of the beef on wax, but while G Rap was in Arizona he did hook up with a new label and record Roots of Evil. The album is not a highlight of his career, but it is quite a respectable release for an MC at a stage in his career when many have lost their fire.
Kool G Rap’s post-2000 output is characterized by relentless flows of intricate multisyllabic rhymes, while his better-known early 90s output is frequently consists of rhythmically complex, syncopated flows broken by measured flurries of syllables. Roots of Evil displays a midpoint in this progression: G Rap has slightly evened out his flows and often carries the same rhymes for long periods. Here, however, he packs multiple two-syllable rhymes into each bar, instead of stringing together the long multisyllables that later made righteously conscious rap nerds grudgingly respect him.
One downside of this approach to rhyme and flow is that it demands a certain level of attention from the listener, or the content will fly past in an unintelligible flurry of words. When the MC is telling a story, as G Rap does on many of the songs here, important plot points can be easily camoflauged. This is probably partially by design, an issued challenge to fans. On the album’s centerpiece, the nine-minute epic “A Thug’s Love Story,” short skits are interjected between movements to allow listeners a chance to breathe. On this song, as on several others, G Rap describes murder scenes and the fast life of a movie mobster in vivid detail.
Indeed, the entire album is clearly the work of someone familiar with the tropes of crime movies. The late 90s may have been the worst period of rote references to crime movies in hip-hop, but G Rap manages to work convincingly within the constraints of the genre. Only occasionally does the album descend into parody, as with the uncomfortable female newscaster who ruins the end of the otherwise excellent south-of-the-border thriller “Tekilla Sunrise.” While the the rest of the album is uneven, its worst moments do not result from boring verses (or from the beats of his frequent collaborator Dr. Butcher), but rather from tiresome choruses and undistinguished guests (including a young Papoose, showing flashes of future mediocrity). And while it may not be much of an accomplishment, G Rap still managed to create one of the best albums of 1998.
Comments for "Kool G Rap - Roots of Evil"
That Eric B. rumor is another “hip-hop myth” along the lines of Kane getting AIDS.
I’ve been told what really went down, but it’s not my place to put the story out there like that.
— Robbie Sep 15, 02:06 AM
well thanks for clearing that up robbie! we owe you one
— Nate Sep 23, 04:09 PM
Already addressed this:
“The truth of these tales is lost not in the mists of time, but in codes of silence on the part of the victors and shame on the part of the losers, though outsiders are always willing to claim they know the facts.”
— David Sep 23, 05:03 PM
I’m surprised you didn’t specifically mention Camileone when discussing “undistinguished” guests. Thought she dropped the worst verse on the entire album (Papoose’s was too short to be really bad, and the other ones I don’t even remember). The rest of the review is the truth though. Superb album, another in a line of classics from the greatest.
— Train Oct 1, 07:46 PM
I think this album is G. Rap’s lyrical peak. While the best songs in his catalog won’t be found here (though a case for Thug’s Love Story could be made), the best writing in G Rap’s career is all over this album.
It’s too bad the songs after “Thug’s Love Story” suffer from such bad production, because some of the album’s best verses are on those songs.
That shit about Pap exhibiting “future mediocrity” is bullshit. That verse is hot as hell and so is all of his material from the DR Period days. People just hate for the sake of hating. Go listen to a Nobs album you fucking herbs. I’ll smack the fuck out of you with a Katrina floater.
GREAT review otherwise.
-Mustafa Goodprose
— MGP Oct 7, 03:14 PM
this shit was crazy to bad we could never get it on wax.
— lord plunder Jan 5, 06:00 PM
good !!!
— MIKA Mar 14, 12:26 PM
I highly doubt the Eric B – G Rap beef. Yall forgetting it was Eric B who introduced G Rap to Marley Marl, and then hooked him up with Polo.
— Pakmanaz Apr 10, 11:33 PM
I always thought G had some health problems that he left NY to rest and get healthy
— Biz Jun 7, 01:47 AM