Lil Ric — Deep n tha Game

The first album by Richard "Lil Ric" McClinton rapper from Richmond, California, comes out on Master P's No Limit, which was based in the same city at the time, and is distributed by SMG. Lil Ric produces half the album, along with Master P, JT the Bigga Figga and Larry D. Guests are Master P, JT the Bigga Figga, San Quinn, Mr. Brainey, Simply Dre, C-Murder, Silkk the Shocker and Tha Grope 1. The album is supposed to be some kind of hidden raw pearl in the No Limit catalog, however, it suffers from too many bad tracks. Lyrically, it's a typically California gangster record with generic themes, while musically, it resonates West Coast, with an abundance of synths, bass lines, keyboards, mobb sounds, and a cheap drum choice that rarely pays off listening.

I don't like the rhythms in the first two tracks, finally a real good beat arrives in "Rivalry", where Lil Ric swaps bars back n forth with Mr. Brainey on a good drum accompanied by light strings and protected by a booming bass. The production of the fifth track is crude, cumbersome, extravagant, clunky, nothing works in this excessively long joint. An honest track follows, with good bass and decent g-funk carpet, "Real 2 Reel" is passable, so Master P brings two highlights into the following three tracks: "Deep n' tha Game" boasts heavy bass, lean drum and regular rap from the performers, while "Peace 2 Dem' Bustaz" features a smooth, inspired soundscape, great bass, solid drum machine, good samples, and a competent and fluid rap by Master P and Lil Ric. In between these pieces is the posse TRU with C-Murder and Silkk: my tolerance towards TRU is gone, I find the song poor, but I think it can still be an interesting choice for fans. The whole record is closed an average song, before the outro.

The tape lasts 50 minutes for 12 songs, 2 of which are solo. The coarse cover faithfully reflects the content of the CD; maybe I'm crazy, that guy seems to me to look like Marlo Stanfield. Lil Ric interprets the lyrics with an alternately hardcore and laid-back style, the production sometimes easily drops the song with bad choices, with better music it would be an acceptable tape. 5.5/10.