Jerry Long was born in the Bronx, but grew up in California following the musical footsteps of his parents and unable to avoid street life. He began his career in the mid-eighties as a singer and later signed with Eazy-E's Ruthless Records in late 1989.
During this period, he collaborated as a ghostwriter for several West Coast gangsta artists, including Above the Law and NWA. After dropping his first solo single — "Nickle Slick Nigga", included in the tracklist of the "Deep Cover" movie: the rapper tells the story of a boy from the ghetto who manages to enter the crack game and subsequently arrives at the rap game — in 1991 he made his album debut: the disc is distributed by Sony (through Epic), which manages to find a foothold in the laws that prohibit the use of his usual moniker and forces the artist to be credited as "Who Am I?".
He becomes the second solo rapper to sign with Ruthless after The D.O.C. Laylaw is the executive producer, while Cold 187um produces the effort (aided by Above the Law and Kokane himself) for Lawhouse Productions, while Dr. Dre — later dissed by Kokane in his sophomore after leaving the Ruthless Records — works on mixing.
With its layered funky production, Cold 187um anticipates the times and precedes the arrival of the new West Coast sound, however its soundscape and Kokane's rapping are grumpy and don't fit perfectly with each other: it's one of the reasons why you'll not find classics or bangers here (excluding the aforementioned "Nickel Slick Nigga", opera omnia of Kokane), however each cut is strong and solid and the disc as a whole is original, thanks to the variety of technical styles that the rapper offers, and consistent in his gangsta address, but with few themes that don't make you cry out to scandal.
The MC opens this effort with a sexual skit right away, on a slow and gloomy rhythm, then delivers with an inspired and relaxed style, in the midst of several well-chosen samples and in a vibrant mood. As already mentioned in other reviews, Ruthless albums usually have a posse track of NWA or affiliates at the last track, instead here there are only Laylaw, Above the Law and MS. Kilo, in an acceptable and long posse.
Highlights: "Inner City Hoodlum", "Nickel Slick Nigga", "Just a Friends", "Pure Kane Nigga".
Rating: 7/10.
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