In typical gangsta rap‚ there are two roles‚ the man who stays in the street‚ and the man who gets out: the former brags‚ threatens‚ catalogs violence and money․ The latter tells rules‚ warns younger men about traps‚ tells them to get a plan before the feds or the graveyard come for them․ There are two scripts for this street‚ and there are hundreds who have been in and out over four decades․ There are the wolves and the prey․ But the person who left a long time ago‚ built a legitimate career‚ raised a family‚ and still carries the reflexes and the threat assessment running underneath a normal afternoon does not fit either one․ He is not still active‚ and he has not moved on‚ and the genre does not have a third option․
Ice-T released his debut album‚ Rhyme Pays‚ in 1987․ At the time‚ Tracy Marrow was known for two things: his street life in South Central and Crenshaw‚ and the music that came out of it․ The music won through‚ but not without a fight․ Power followed, then the two classics of O․G․ Original Gangster, The Iceberg, Body Count, and others․ From New Jack City and never stopped working after that․ The fact is‚ he had a role on SVU in 2000‚ and he was on for over 20 years․ He was so far removed that the next generation probably didn’t know he was a rapper․ He had not released a solo rap album since 2006’s Gangsta Rap‚ and Body Count had had 20 years of tours‚ a TV show‚ and social media․
In an AllHipHop interview before Criminal Migraine’s release‚ Ice-T explained that after hearing new records from Clipse‚ Raekwon and Ghostface he could feel the urge back․ “I think our generation is coming back‚” he told Chuck Creekmur․ Producers called‚ from Charlemagne‚ PA Dre‚ and others from LA․ He started recording with Treach during the pandemic‚ and built a studio in his house․ The title is the dilemma in the brain of anyone from the streets who tries to make a legitimate change‚ a transition that is not easy‚ one that a lot of people do not survive‚ but that is his brain at this point in his life‚ the mistakes and the wins‚ and take it or leave it․
On “Follow the Leader” he walks through a place where life is cheap and fentanyl makes the game deeper‚ where the feds decode every word out the speaker‚ where a simple mistake gets you killed․ He says most street cats snitch‚ that he rolls with true boys‚ and that his lawyer used to be a prosecutor․ It ends with a warning to get organized‚ or be on the run․ CJ Mack appears on “Jewel Lick,” the heist song from the perspective of characters in early-80s Los Angeles‚ in Oscar’s club with cocaine all over the place․ After describing the two men’s plan to rob a mark by tracking him and the safe he opens‚ Ice-T interrupts‚ as the lesson commences․ He tells Mack to trust no woman‚ skip the jewelry‚ kill the social media‚ and “Once you get enough to leave this shit behind‚ never recross that line․”
The game-talk is a pointed warning against podcasts and people telling on themselves․ The hook on “Shut the Fuck Up” is “These podcasters know exactly what they selling/Self-incriminating you and you’re the one telling․” They call you soft until you start bragging bodies and then they know exactly where to go to get the segue to the recent killing․ He says you’ll never catch him on any of their shows․ “No Regrets” the register is farewell․ “I politely stepped out the game”‚ he says‚ and this measures a time when players got caught and would not turn states against now‚ where “the code is gone‚ now you’re on your own․” He then says he was in the game before everyone was telling on each other‚ before everyone had a camera․
With the title track‚ Ice-T warns you not to look too deep into his brain and then opens the door․ Dead bodies‚ bricks of cocaine‚ sawed-off shotguns‚ broken glass‚ ski masks․ Ice picks in his brain․ He keeps wearing black and keeping the suit pressed for funerals‚ and the funerals keep coming so he never puts the suit away․ He writes his rhymes in the dark with his eyes closed; “I don’t want it‚ but my soul’s haunted” everybody dies in his head․ He has killed thousands of times those who have crossed him․ If any doctor ever tells him he is terminal‚ he has a list‚ and he is taking them with him․ He sees them: enemies burning‚ dead in beds‚ thrown in furnaces․
He stated that he was robbed by his girlfriend on the AllHipHop conversation‚ and an OG friend he consulted said that there was no excuse for betrayal․ You can prepare for enemies‚ but not for the guy next to you․ That wound runs through “The Hate Is Real,” chronicling a life from first strap at thirteen‚ ballin’ off Sherman and crack at sixteen‚ a cut-out black Cadillac‚ women on his hip‚ and friends turning to foes once he has anything worth taking․ “Smile in your face‚ hatchet in your back,” a hook reminds us․ Smoothe Da Hustler gives his own personal verse: set up‚ double-crossed‚ laid down by a friend who is no longer around‚ hated by people who’ve never met him․ “No One Ever Wins” takes the lesson a step further‚ with two stories that come to the same outcome․ A drug plan that blows up when the cartel plug is really DEA‚ a woman who lined up tricks for twenty years and ends up burnt out and alone‚ looking at friends who are now happily married with children․
But with 24 tracks‚ the content runs on and the ground underneath it drops away․ “Hustle Hard” is keep grinding‚ keep trying‚ he believes in you‚ your next move could be your best move‚ bars that float above any particular street or person․ To Be a Man surveys masculinity across a life in such a wide-angle way that you feel the man speaking could be anyone․ “It’s All About” wastes two verses cataloging opulence before switching one word in the final hook to “He died over islands‚ diamonds‚ yachts‚ and champagne․” The switch is the best move on any of the four‚ but the catalog preceding it is a drag․ “Keep It Gangster” contains an amusing Kenny Ivy and Treach remains energetic throughout‚ but its subject is already well-trodden by the other flex tracks‚ making it one of the tracks that needed cutting․ A sixteen-track record with the dead weight cut out would have been a harder‚ tighter album․
Solid (★★★½☆)
Favorite Track(s): “Criminal Migraine,” “Jewel Lick,” “Ego”