Ice-T — Home Invasion

Fifth album for Tracy Marrow, marks the fall of one of the greatest rappers of the time, Ice-T. The boy arrives at the album after releasing "Cop Killer", a cut made with Body Count, which raises a very high fuss of controversy that sweeps the Nation: the release of this LP is initially scheduled to be released in 1992 under the blessing of Warner Bros., which defends the freedom of speech of Ice-T after the release of that single, then the release is postponed to early 1993. The label changes its mind and no longer supports the artist who, in turn, leaves the Warner and agrees with Priority.

The album works quite well in the first part, then it swells and reaches the exorbitant duration of over 75 minutes: the themes don't differ from his previous records, Ice-T still deals with violence, racism, sexism, black on black crime, life in the ghetto and anti-government and anti-war arguments, abandoning much of the political themes that had characterized his past works, while the production chosen by DJ Aladdin, SLJ and Ice-T himself sounds poor, funky rhythms scarce with honest drums and easy samples. In the second part, the record collapses with questionable sexual fillers ("Pimp Behind the Wheels", "Hit the Fan") and dancehall ("Depths of Hell"), which also don't work because of the cheap music. The mix of serious and not very serious lyrics compromises the final product, at times excellent, but deeply irregular, redundant and without a clear direction to follow. The MC still has acceptable flow, save a few cuts, but not the whole album. Not recommended.

Deprived of major global distribution, and at the expense of a sometimes hostile critical reception, with what ultimately becomes his first album officially released through his own label

Rhyme $yndicate Records, Ice-T proves he's still a commercial force in rap, continuing to move units and masses, overwhelming the market and sending his product to the charts on three continents, reaching the top twenty in the US, UK, Germany, and Australia, and being certified gold in his home country and the UK.

Rating: 6/10.