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RHH: WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THE HOUSTON LABEL RAP-A-LOT RECORDS?

September 9th, 2011 7 comments

The record label has been out almost as long as Def Jam. In the 90s Houston had some of the most gangster and violent hip-hop, even more so than the West Coast that gets most of the credit for gangster albums. Most of the Rap-A-Lot early releases have gone pretty much unnoticed and only acknowledge by those who dig deep for hip-hop music. So, for this post I’ll be shedding some light on the forgotten city of H-town and some of it’s gem.

In my opinion these are great albums that could make a great addition to your collection:

1991:Geto Boys: We Can’t Be Stopped- This one is a straight classic and it’s what put Texas on the map. I will not going into detail as I feel this album is already known by most fans, who can forget Mind Playing Tricks on Me?

1992 Big Mello: Bone Hard Zaggin- This album is on some pimp-smooth sh*t. The album has great production that’s great for riding in the car and I would dare to say that it’s better than the overrated The Chronic. Mac’s Drive ‘Lac’s is the highlight song in my opinion that would give you that southern player style that represents Texas.

1991:Convicts:Convicts- This album is the best ignorant rap album in history. It has some of the most ignorant views, but it’s done in a way that’s appealing for being so straight forward without holding back. The songs are set to old-style Houston beats, strictly harmonicas and church organs. It’s basically the genius of ignorant rap.

1992: Ganksta N-I-P: The South Park Psycho- This one is simply a horrorcore/gansgter rap album. NIP says some of the most weirdest things on this album, like clamming he has had sex with 90 year old grannies to women having sex with pit bulls. Check out it out, if you like dark topics…

91& 94: Scarface: Mr. Scarface Is Back/The Diary- These two albums are pretty much known by most, so I won’t say anymore.

1993: Seagram: The Dark Road- This rapper is from Oakland and he was shot to death in 96. The guy talks about dark subject matter and life experiences. Seagram makes a lot of reference of the devil, acknowledging Satan as ruler of the world. This is really Sea’s best LP, the dark roads has the old school samples from Tom Tom Club, Isaac Hayes, Zapp, & Chocolate Milk. It also has some groovy feel to it reminiscent to DJ Quik.

BQ: What is your favorite album from Texas?
Out of all those I HIGHLY recommend Big Mello: Bone Hard Zaggin. Dope.
Johnny Blaze: Yeah, definitely check out Bone Hard Zaggin, Mr. Scarface Is Back, The Diary, We Can’t Be Stopped first and see how that goes. The production is old-school southern Texas style, nothing like the east or west…
s. perrotta – sense makes dollas: Yeah I know, sometimes it gets boring to hear the same thing over and over in this section, wu-tang, nas, mobb deep… and yeah I agree Wegonefunkwichamind is dope. I just mentioned these because I felt most people here would like it, and another two of my favorites is 1989: Willie D – Controversy & 1991: O.G. Style – I Know How to Play ‘Em to add to your list…

I’ve got to say – it is hella refreshing to know that someone on here likes early 90s southern hip-hop…

Rap-A-Lot has spawned a lot of great rappers and has an unbelievable back-catalogue of albums – the label has stood the test of time incredibly well and although its well past its peak and influence, its still one of the great hip-hop logos and was crucial in giving southern hip-hop a regional platform to build on – and definitely proved, at least in the long run, that there was more to the south than Bass music…
The label branched out a lot with west coast and midwest acts which I think is notable, and is probably one of the reasons why acts like E-40 and Spice 1 collaborated with so many southern artists and helped promote and expand the south’s appeal…

Geto Boys and Scarface go without saying…

Convicts never did that much for me personally – they had some decent tracks and a great gimmick, but I can’t help but lump into a pile of solid but unremarkable Houston groups like and Too Much Trouble and Trinity Garden Cartel…

I’ve been throwing out Ganksta N-I-P’s Interview With A Killa on a lot of horrorcore-oriented questions and he’s an incredibly underrated rapper skill-wise as well and his debut has stood the test of time well – the southern equivalent of Esham if anything…

Wegonefunkwichamind is my personal favorite of Big Mello’s though – that album is not far away from classic status and epitomises southern g-funk at its finest – raw grooves with deep vocals and lumbering basslines…

Meanwhile Seagram’s probably the closest the west has come to Big L – without the relentless punchlines – his shit was unbelievably raw and The Ville is classic Bay Area shit… the Bay has a plethora of great 90s rappers that never quite got their dues and Sea is definitely one of them…

A few others that would fall into your category…

Blac Monks – Secrets Of The Hidden Temple
Coop MC – Currency
DMG – Rigormortiz
E.S.G. – Sailin’ Da South
5th Ward Boyz – Rated G
Snypaz – Livin’ In The Scope
The Terrorists – Terror Strikes: Always Bizness, Never Personal
Willie D – Play Witcha Mama

BQ: Probably Devin the Dude’s To Tha X-Treme – the production was perfect and its definitely his most varied in terms of subject matter… He’s just so entertaining to listen to and all of his albums have a degree of nostalgia in that they’re really fun and lighthearted but still offer some deep material…