Review Summary: A solid debut from an MC who clearly had improvement to be done.
Ice-T's debut, Rhyme Pays, is an interesting, somewhat tedious album to listen to, but Ice-T is one of the originators of gangsta rap. Ice-T was clearly very young on this album, and had a lot of improvement to be done. Nonetheless, Ice-T was clearly a talented MC, and showed quite a bit of potential on this album.
On Rhyme Pays, we hear an MC who had a lot of improvement and maturing to be done, but nonetheless a lot of potential, and flashes of greatness. One of the songs on here is an all-time classic, "6 'N the Morning". One of the quintessential storytelling tracks, "6 'N the Morning", is a classic song, with solid storytelling, with Ice-T going into vivid detail of the police being at his house. "Intro/Rhyme Pays", is a classic song as well, with great lyrics and energy, over a heavy rock influenced beat. However, a big problem with this album, is that a majority of the songs sound the same. There's no true distinctive sound to any of these songs, they clearly came from the time in hip hop when it was a developing genre. The production on this album is mainly what makes me say that about it.
Overall this album is solid, but outdated musically. Ice T clearly had some improvement to be done on this, but nonetheless he clearly had potential that he would later take advantage of.
Ratings:
1. Intro/Rhyme Pays: 3.5/5
2. 6 'N the Morning: 5/5
3. Make it Funky: 3.5/5
4. Somebody Gotta do It (Pimpin' Ain't Easy!!!): 3/5
5. 409: 3/5
6. I Love the Ladies: 3/5
7. Sex: 2/5
8. Pain: 4/5
9. Squeeze the Trigger: 4/5
10. Make it Funky (12" Mix): 3.5/5
11. Sex (bonus beat): 2.5/5
12. Somebody Gotta Do it (Pimpin' Ain't Easy!!!) (12" Mix): 3/5
13. Our Most Requested Record (long version): 4/5
Best songs:
6 'N the Morning
Squeeze the Trigger
Pain
Our Most Requested Record (long version)
Make it Funky
Weakest song: Sex
Production: 6.9/10
Lyrics: 7.2/10
Overall rating: 71/100
Grade: C-
