Till Death Do Us Part 1993 Album

Geto Boys

I don't have this rated as a great record but the production from N.O. Joe is definitely an upgrade over past Rap-A-Lot employs. There's more space, thick beats, and funky bass which sees the slicker raps of Big Mike replacing Willie D's more vociferous barks. It comes together best on low-end sample-shiftng mega monsters like "Murder After Midnight", the lengthy Rap-A-Lot roster freestyle "Bring It On", and "Six Feet Deep", a devastatingly sad ballad in the mold of Ice Cube's "Dead Homiez". There's just as many misses on what turns out to be another mercurial Geto Boys record we ultimately cannot dismiss...and still revisit once in a while.

Nothing here surprises too much, be it the production or the content, with some conscious themes about race, gangsta rap, sex and horrorcore - It's the Geto Boys after all. There's no fast skip (with 'This Dick's for You' being the closest thing to that) or anything at the other end of the scale that is amazing either. 'Bring It On' is dope but I'm not sure it needed to be quite so long at 8 minutes. There are some familiar samples like on 'No Nuts, No Glory' with Millie Jackson's 'I Cry' that has been used to help create better songs. 'Cereal Killer' is worth mentioning as it sounds perhaps like a hardcore take on LL's 'Milky Cereal' where Scarface tells a murderous tale, with the victims being portrayed as cereal mascots/names of cereals. All in all, this is a good album hovering around a 3.5 out of 5. 'Crooked Officer' has a catchy hook, but a number of these don't. The best moments aren't high enough for me to push this to a 4 either. I wonder if the Rap-A-Lot artists wanted these boring J Prince intros and outros on their album... Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: It Ain't, Crooked Officer, No Nuts No Glory, Raise Up, Straight Gangstaism, Bring It On