Customer Reviews

Spice 1

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

That's Spice 1's first album. Spice 1, one of the greatest rappers ever to hit the West Coast rap scene presnets gangsta rap on a whole new level with cold stories about murderin' and killin' without any second thoughts. Spice has never given a f*** about radio airplay, he's just doin' his own thing, keepin' the gangsta flava popin'. This is his first album. Get this one and all his other albums too and you get tight prodiction, lyrics and delivery and tens of brilliant songs by this so talented artist commin' from the Dirty Bay.

I remember when I first bought the tape back during the summer of 92. I was told by a co-worker that it was the bomb so I had to go out and get it. I fell in love with it after hearing it the 1st time. If you are looking for real hardcore gangsta rap and not the watered down "club" version of today then this is a must. Not only are there dope ryhmes but this CD has some tight BASS. I have to turn down the Bass level on my CD player on the track 1-900 SPICE because the bass is so heavy. My favorites are EastBaygangsta, 187proof, Peace to my nine, Welcome to the Ghetto and F'' in the game. I still like listening to this CD today even though it is 10years old. This is probably Spice's best CD of all time, it is a classic.

No doubt many of you have slept on Spice 1. But you must know, Spice 1 is the real deal. You will have a hard time finding a fresher, more hardcore brotha kick real gangsta rhymes. He will crack you in the head with a bottle of St. Ides just for maddoggin' him. Spice 1 is straight West Coast, and comes correct with vivid street tales, social commentary, menace, and wit, accompanied by gangstered out G-funk bass moves. His flow is versatile and tight. He is not a man of just one style. Spice 1 can flip it quick, slow, Jamacian, etc. In addition, 1 was down with Tupac and Too-Short, so there's no doubt. And when he tells you that he's gonna 'kill your baby, your dog, and your Mutha F'in family', you know he means it. Spice 1 is also quite the metaphorical master on tracks like '187 Proof'. If you don't know, you owe it to yourself to find out. Check this West COast Mack now!

This self titled debut by Spice 1 is a good place to start if you wish to experience the greatly under appreciated Bay Area rapper's early career, but is hardly his best album (though, not his worst). It's an over all enjoyable album with no tracks that will have you hitting the skip button, and as with Spice's other early Jive discs, you're getting your moneys worth in terms of quantity as Spice doesn¡¦t weigh his albums down with intrusive skits and keeps the guest spots to an absolute minimum (from what I remember, there's a guest on Break Yourself, and that¡¦s it). Spice introduces the hardcore, violent lyrics and gory inner city narratives that he would continue indulging in throughout his career, and his lyrics, while not outstanding, are quite good and hit most of the usual gangster points (guns, murder, drugs, etc.) spot on (though there are no sex songs or overly misogynistic lyrics). That said, Spice is hardly in top form on this album. It's somewhat understandable considering it is his first CD, Spice has a very different tone and pitch to his voice and his flow is a tad awkward in spots. Also his lyrics do sometimes fall short of greatness (as much as I love Spice, he does occasionally drop a whack lyric here and there), which mixed with his amateurish flow make for some eye brow raising lines ("flip you over, fry your ass like a patty melt" is a notably corny line) and its obvious that he is somewhat new to the game.

So, lyrics are not exactly mind blowing (and occasionally bad), but fans of gangster rap with tastes like mine, looking for some cold blooded murder rap will be pleased, and Spice's flow and high pitched, raspy voice don't really detract from your enjoyment given his energy and passion. Another factor demonstrating this is an early album is the production. Again, nothing (IMO) so bad as to turn you off the album, but the beats could be better. Later Spice 1 albums would also suffer from less than stellar production (on certain tracks, not as a whole), but here it is a more substantial weakness as a number of tracks have a low budget, sometimes cheesy sound to them. The worst would be Money Gone, with its cheesy guitar hook and muffled beat. Of course, not all of the tracks have weak beats. Peace to My Nine has a great, energetic backdrop highlighted by piercing metallic sound effects. Young N¡Ka has a superb beat, kicking off with a thumping base line and punctuated by a very effective horn sample and piano hook. F¡Kd In The Game is another good track a very blues/dancehall sound to it, implementing drums and banging piano hooks. Most of the other beats tend to be more simplistic or low quality, but never annoying or frustrating to listen to.

Spice 1 is a good gangster rap album, and one that can be listened to without any skips. Of its 14 tracks, there are plenty that stand out as being genuinely good, amongst a few that could be better. Peace To My Nine and Young N¡Ka stand out as my personal favorites, In My Neighborhood starts the album off well and is another good track, East Bay Gangster is also quite fun, demonstrating Spice's reggae style (along with 1800 Spice), Welcome To The Ghetto is the obligatory light/introspective song that feels a bit out of place amongst all the murder talk, but is a good track none the less. F¡Kd In the Game and Money or Murder are also fun tracks that highlight the second half of the album. 187 Proof (one of the albums singles) is a pretty clever (or at the least, interesting) concept song which has Spice telling a story using Alcohol brands instead of names, but is one that I usually skip. It¡¦s a fun track, and the idea is cool, but the song just doesn¡¦t appeal to me. Everyone seems to love this track, but I¡¦m not really feeling it. The album closes with 187 Pure, which is essentially the same concept with drugs in place of alcohol, overall, a solid track list.

Spice certainly made an impact with this record, and while he isnt that well known outside of hardcore gangster rap fans, he is undeniably an important part in the west coast explosion of the 90's. It's an album that hasn¡¦t aged particularly well, and Spice 1 will improve greatly as he continues releasing albums, but its a fun album (if you can stomach the violence and no holds barred approach to the subject matter) that is more than worth a purchase and listen for hip hop fans. Just don¡¦t expect a masterpiece, and do NOT be turned off of Spice 1 if he sounds a bit fresh on the mic, he gets much better on his later albums, with a dramatic change/improvement in both flow, lyrics and delivery for his next album (and my personal favorite), the outstanding 187 He Wrote. So, give this disc a spin and check out his other stuff too, and support the East Bay Gangster! BLAOOW!!! º

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The self-titled debut from Oakland, California's own Spice 1 illustrates true ghetto life over funk samples and seldom stray from its essence, the streets. "In My Neighborhood" leads the album off as Spice gives us his perspective as a news reporter of some sort as also found on "Welcome To The Ghetto". As a highlight of this release, "187 Proof" is a clever topic of liquor labels as characters of the graphic tale over deep 808 kicks. Taking a blend of jazz piano tones as Spice 1 adds reggae flavor to complete the effectiveness of "East Bay Gangsta". Maintaining creativity with style and finess, Spice stutter steps over the horn section and looped guitar licks on "Money Gone". The hotlines "1-900-Spice" is quite brief with hard 808 kicks as "1-800-Spice" is a complete reggae tune as he answer questions from callers. "Peace To My Nine" is a dedication to his weapon of choice, a 9mm by saying "...and before I end this rhyme / I'd like to say peace to my m****f*****' nine..." "Young N****" is an example of an inner city juvenile following the street life. "F***** In The Game" is an upbeat track containing guitar licks and dragged bass looped to compliment Spice's delivery. "187 Pure" contains the same format as "187 Proof" except drugs were the main characters in this plot. Highly criticied about gangster rap's negativity, but there is always another side, another light that should be made public.

Produced by EA Ski and Ant Banks, this album was pretty tight sound wise. The tracks are clean with good bump. I remember my cousin playing "Peace To My Nine" and then I bought the tape at a swap meet .... that whole album takes me back to Summer of 92. Although, if you hear it close, Spice 1 sounded like he was listening to a lot of Ice Cube. I keep picturing Ice Cube's voice on top of Spice's lyrics ... true classic material.

What can I say? I was down with SPICE 1 since I heard 187 Proof. Love the whole album. Great old skool gangsta rap. Would recommend if you are in the mood for the good old days of rap.

This was filled with quality for 91 sound. The production and the flows. Its just got so many good tracks too. I love this CD. Spice was my favourite rapper for a while. It was essential westcoast albums like this that made me like him. Make sure you got this. Peace!

This is my 2nd fave spice cd, my 1st is Amerikkkas Nightmare. every song on here is good, if u dont have this, get it right phuckkin now, goddammit.

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