Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics

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Kool G Rap & DJ Polo

  • Road to the Riches [Cold Chillin', 1989] B+
  • Wanted: Dead or Alive [Cold Chillin', 1990] **
  • Live and Let Die [Cold Chillin', 1992] Dud

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Road to the Riches [Cold Chillin', 1989]
From nasty piano steal to harp hook to bicycle horn to layered ear-scrape to Gary Numan cover to Memphis blues again, this is Marley Marl at his most encyclopedic, and G's fast, harsh lisp is straight outta Queensbridge. But there's too much boast, too much money, too much gaydissing no matter how ridiculous. I don't think G is obliged to transcend a spiritual trap he never made. But until he does he'll have to be a genius, not just the new hard on the block, to escape his ghetto. B+

Wanted: Dead or Alive [Cold Chillin', 1990]
hard again ("Streets of New York," "Erase Racism") **

Live and Let Die [Cold Chillin', 1992] Dud