O.G. Original Gangster
| O.G. Original Gangster | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by Ice-T | ||||||||||
| Released | May 14, 1991 | |||||||||
| Recorded | Syndicate Studios West, Widetracks, Dodge City and Fox Studios L.A. 1990-Mid January 1991 | |||||||||
| Length | 72:17 | |||||||||
| Label | Sire, Warner Bros. Records | |||||||||
| Producer | Ice-T, DJ Aladdin, Afrika Islam, DJ SLJ, Bilal Bashir | |||||||||
| Ice-T chronology | ||||||||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  |
| Chicago Sun-Times |  |
| Chicago Tribune |  |
| Entertainment Weekly | A |
| NME | 9/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Select | 2/5 |
| The Village Voice | A |
O.G. Original Gangster is the fourth studio album by American rapper Ice-T. The album was released on May 14, 1991, by Sire Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was praised by many as the artist's best.
O.G. Original Gangster peaked at #9 on Billboard magazine's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at #15 on the Billboard 200. On the albums release, the vinyl version only contained 16 of the compact discs 24 tracks. The NME stated to "forget the format's limitations" and promoted the compact disc version with 24 tracks over the vinyl.
The album was ranked at #25 in Melody Maker's list of the top 30 albums of 1991, and was featured in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums and the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
From contemporary reviews, the NME stated that the album was Ice-T's "best shot yet; riotous vignettes from a decaying America full of devious humour and striking pathos – all those things NWA profess to be but clearly aren't." The review commented on the album's production stating Afrika Islam production as "slamming" noting that "the music is always restlessly inventive in catering for your solar plexus (even on the hardcore/Heavy Metal crossover token track) – complements highlights like the sad, droning 'The Tower', the optimistic 'Escape From The Killing Fields' (a scathing re-write of Public Enemy's 'Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos' that explains the original metaphor) and the out-of-character bad-tempered 'Lifestyles Of The Rich And Infamous'"
Select gave the album a negative review, stating that three tracks "Mind Over Matter", "The Tower" and "The House" are outstanding while "much of the rest relies on a well-tested recipe of looped breakbeats and linear drums." and that the albums themes "functions better as manifesto than as music"}
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