Power (Ice-T album)
| Power | ||||
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| Studio album by Ice-T | ||||
| Released | September 13, 1988 | |||
| Studio | Syndicate Studios West, Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | Hip hop, gangsta rap | |||
| Label | Sire | |||
| Producer | Ice-T, Afrika Islam | |||
| Ice-T chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Power | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| RapReviews.com |   |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 |
| The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |  |
Power is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Tracy Marrow under the alias of Ice-T. The album, recorded at Syndicate Studios West in Los Angeles, the home studio of DJ Evil E, was produced by Marrow and Afrika Islam. The Los Angeles Daily News noted that Power's themes ranged from sex, to gun violence and that Marrow "implicates everyone from radio programmers to the police as accomplices in the decline of western civilisation." The album contains lyrics which began a feud between Marrow and rapper LL Cool J.
Released on September 13, 1988, by Sire Records the album cover features Marrow's girlfriend Darlene Ortiz and was described as "perpetuating stereotypes" by The Chicago Tribune and "violence-glorifying" by both the Chicago Sun Times and The Sydney Morning Herald. Two singles were released from the album: "I'm Your Pusher" and "High Rollers". The album was certified Platinum by 2006. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented that on its release, Power received "strong reviews" and continued to receive positive retrospective reviews from music guides such as AllMusic, The Rolling Stone Album Guide and the Spin Alternative Record Guide.
Following the success of Marrow's album Rhyme Pays which went Gold in the United States, Marrow was featured on the soundtrack to the film Colors (1988). He felt by the time he got around to working on Power that he "was aware that people were listening" and that he "had to be more serious, and ... get some points across". The beats for the album were written by Afrika Islam at his apartment with his SP-1200 sampler and a Roland 909 drum machine. Tracks such as "Drama" had a Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer connected to a SP-1200. Islam stated that he felt he was creating a different sound for hip hop with this track as the 303 was usually only heard in techno music and that the 303 created a unique "shreiky sound". Others such as "Girls L.G.B.N.A.F." were made by connecting two Roland TR-909 drum machines together.
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