By this point, Geto Boys albums began to read like a macabre anthology of grisly ghetto slasher/horror stories, with each subsequent release trying to outgross the previous effort. It all came to a peak in the fall of 1991 when they had a hit with "Mind Playing Tricks On Me", followed quickly by Scarface's solo release, which turned out to be another thriller, and on a lot of levels, better than actual Geto Boys records. Essentially, this is a Geto Boys-style record executed by Scarface, with his own unique imprint (the man in the black hat), so it's fairly clear Willie D and Bushwick weren't really needed to make Geto Boys records, right? "A Minute to Pray and a Second to Die" thematically capitalizes on "Mind Playing Tricks On Me's success, and like every good horror protagonist he had enough sense to off himself at the end ("I'm Dead"), but not before leaving a trail of dead bodies ("Diary of a Madman").

This stark, bleak, intentionally low-budget affair was a surprise hit towards the end of 1991 thanks to the single "Mind Playin' Tricks On Me". Paired with a rather grotesque album cover, it belied the actual fact that the group was splintering behind the scenes, which is the reason most the tracks are solo efforts, giving it a disconnected feel. Some of these spots stand out on sheer outrageousness alone - Bushwick Bill's "Chuckie" writes the initial book on horror-core rap, and Willie D's "Trophy" is a great dig at music industry hypocrisy - but more often than not, the diatribes miss their target, or don't have anything to say. Still, all of these crazy personalities trying to share space on a rap album is not something you hear every day.

Was this an excuse to keep Bob Golic employed between the field and the booth?

A couple episodes of this was enough for me. Essentially, Starsky and Hutch-lite.

The group is in Williamsburg for a raid when Isak encounters his long-lost brother Pompey (played by Paul Winfield) who is actually working as a British spy, for promise of his eventual freedom. Now the Revolution seems small compared to dealing with the consequences of chattel slavery. Once again, the show connects a current topic with the Revolution in a very classy manner. And they even slip a Quaker in the episode, too!