Kool G. Rap and DJ Polo were there right from the beginning of legendary group The Juice Crew, boasting the names of Marley Marl, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, and others that you probably don't care about. I know you're thinking it, so I'll just tell you to get over how bad Kool G. Rap's moniker is. Later in his career he would state that the "G" stood for "Giancana", but if you can tell me that is what he was thinking the entire time, well you're a fucking lair. Time to get back on track, their debut album, Road To The Riches, got relatively lost in the shuffle with other Juice Crew releases. After dropping the classic posse cut, "The Symphony", G. Rap wasn't the highest on very many people's radars. It follows the classic eighties rap album format: eleven songs, no features, at least one DJ cut. DJ Polo comes in for occasional scratches, while Marley Marl produces the album in it's entirety. Unlike a lot of regular eighties projects, the chemistry between these three is impeccable, making Eminem and Royce Da 5'9'' seem like strangers. Road To The Riches eventually got it's recognition, as it is now regarded as one of the greatest releases from the Juice Crew camp.
It wasn't until quite recently that I actually got to check this thing out. I've already pretty much stated that I love the damn thing, but you still have to stick around and find out why. I finally decided to check it out during my Marley Marl phase. Yeah, his beats may sound dated, but if you're going to tell me they don't sound good then you need to get over yourself. It also helps that The Roots, one of my all time favorite groups, have repeatedly stated this as their main inspirations for becoming a group. Ever since then, I've been looking for a similar album that will spark my musical potential. I've yet to succeed, but that's one of the main reasons for this blog. I guess you could go as far as to say that Road To The Riches was one of the reasons that you're even on this site. I'm sure you don't care about that, though. On the other hand, if you care about any New York crime rapper ever, this right here is what you need to thank. Even if you find it to sound like shit today, you need to pick up a copy of this for the sake of homage.
I'm cutting the intro short today, because I want to actually listen to this thing...
1. Road To The Riches
The opening instrumental on here is pretty damn awesome and sets the mood for the album perfectly. If you're familiar with any of G. Rap's recent work (I'm talking nineties shit, I know damn well that none of you heard his 2011 release), the first thing you'll realize is the change in his voice. It's there, but the lisp is much less evident. This is a classic song for very good reason. He completely tears up the previously mentioned Marley Marl beat. You'll also be surprised as hell to see how well this holds up in 2013. See, your favorite rappers had to take their shit from somewhere.
2. It's A Demo
Well, obviously this isn't a demo, but I guess they liked their demo so much they felt they would be doing it an injustice by changing up the hook. Maybe he was just trying to DEMOnstrate the way he can destroy the mic. Yeah we'll go with the latter. It always fascinated me with the way he articulated DJ Polo's name. I guess you're just going to have to listen to the song if you want to know what I'm talking about. See, I have my ways of making you listen to music. Hahahahahah (Vinnie Paz laugh)
3. Men At Work
I've vowed to myself that I will eventually learn this song word for word, which will come into play one day at school. Ideally, it will be a final for a class that I don't need a good grade for to pass. After receiving the test, I'll just flip it to the back and write a detailed review for Iron Man 3, turn it into the teacher hours before anyone else finishes theirs. Immediately after turning it in, I'll burst into this song, everyone will join, and we will have successfully recorded the long over due music video for this musical masterpiece. On a serious not, this beat has been used numerous times by other artists, which proves that I'm not the only one who finds this shit to be great.
4. Truly Yours
Kool G. lays to a song dedicated to all the girls that he hates, which is a direct quote from him. This song is hilariously blunt, especially the second verse, which might be the most homophobic thing I've heard in the past hour. Sue me, but I found this shit to be kind of funny. Pete Rock also found the comedy on here, as a remake can easily be found on his first Soul Survivor album.
As offensive as some may find it, nothing about it touched Big Daddy Kane on "Pimpin' Aint Easy". I'll admit that the Big daddy law is a little too much.
5. Cars
This song is goofy as hell, but I still find it to be all kinds of entertaining. It completely samples the Gary Numan song of the same name, which was just a weird move that still puzzles me. Fear not, once this shit has been stuck in your head for weeks at the time, you'll realize the genius of Kool Giancana. Hip hop and new wave don't normally mix, but that just might be because of my distaste towards the latter. I promise that I do listen to music other than hip hop, I'm just better at transferring my thoughts into words when listening to rap. Maybe I'll try some other genre one of these days.
6. Trilogy Of Terror
Ok guys, this is where you all come in, please tell me what in the world about this song is a trilogy. I've tried so many damn times, but all I've gotten is that Kool G. doesn't have three verses and there isn't three rappers. It might be right in front of me, but I digress. What you really need to take away from this is how damn cool that title (yes, the same one I was just complaining about) sounds. The song itself is only alright, though. I'm fine with the rapping, but Marley Marl's work leaves a whole lot to be desired. Oh well, I'll take one decent song out of six any day.
7. She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not
When I was running down my list of stereotypical elements of an eighties rap album, I forgot one crucial feature: the love song. Coming from the same camp as Big Daddy Kane, (you can criticize Kane all day for his later output, but you can't deny that he was one smooth ass motherfucker) Kool G. had to have gotten some tips from the master. In fact, this is better than most of the smooth operators shit, which is impressive, as I'm pretty damn biased towards Kane. I know his rapping is \hesitant, but the instrumental pretty much takes care of that issue. You can't blame the guy, this is a total opposite of anything else he's recorded. Remember, though, this was essential for the album to come out.
8. Cold Cuts
Kool G. does make an appearance towards the end, but this is nothing more than a DJ cut. A pretty good one at that. I actually don't hate these things as much as one would expect, you gotta give a little respect to someone's whose name appears on the damn album cover. All that's really notable about the song is that is uses the same overused sample that originally appeared on an Ultramagnetic MC's track.
9. Rhymes I Express
Well, I'm not going to act like I remembered this song was a thing. I was actually kind of shocked when this thing popped up on my IPod, as I had already started typing out "Poison". All I can say is that there's probably a reason this one wasn't one my radar. Not terrible by any means, but the beat is awfully boring and Kool G. doesn't really have very much to say. I'll just pretend this didn't happen.
10. Poison
Okay, here's the song I was expecting. If you're familiar with Bell Biv Devoe, you realize their most famous song actually sampled the shouting from this track, which is the original. Not to say I was completely blown away. It's not like I all that knowledgeable towards them, they very well could be huge Kool G. Rap fan, which would be cool as shit. Thankfully, this track is no anomaly from the rest if the bunch, as Marly Marl produced another killer beat that ultimately faces the fate of being ripping into tiny pieces by Kool G.
11. Butcher Shop
Kool G. spits an ode to his DJ, but this is not another DJ cut. Don't get those confused. The album ends in proper fashion, as the rapping sounds more fierce and passionate than I've heard all day. Yeah, he cares that fucking much about DJ Polo. Showing emotion in your voice is a lost art that really needs to come back. Whenever it does happen, it has some fantastic results. You all saw how easily Kendrick Lamar set the Internet on fire by simply yelling into the mic. It was a really good verse, but you wouldn't be talking about it if there wasn't the aggressiveness in his voice.
Rating: 4/5
There's a couple songs that only sound alright, but when this shit clicks (it happens a lot), this album is straight bananas. I'll admit that the overall sound doesn't hold up as well as I would have liked, but it still holds up well enough for every single one of you motherfuckers to pick up a copy. Do it now before you forget about how much I recommend this. When the younger hip hop audience wants to check out some so called "classic rappers", the first idea is to find Tupac and Biggie. They're obviously nice, but you can't learn the hip hop genre in one night and you don't have incredible musical taste because you listened to All Eyez On Me. Anyways, the point is that Kool G. Rap may not be the first name that pops into your head but I promise you won't be disappointed in Road To The Riches. You need to learn to appreciate one of the all time greats. His lyrics may not have been that different than any other average rapper, but no one, even nowadays, can touch the mans delivery. To make things even easier for you, there was a 2006 re-release, which has updated sound quality and means you'll actually be able to find this shit in the store. Have fun!