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Lyrical Gangsta is an album by the Jamaican musician Ini Kamoze, released in 1995.[2][3] "Listen Me Tic" was the first single.[4]

Lyrical Gangsta
Studio album by Ini Kamoze
Released	1995
Label	East West[1]
Producer	Philip Burrell
Ini Kamoze chronology
Here Comes the Hotstepper (1995) Lyrical Gangsta (1995) Debut (2006)

The album peaked at No. 6 on Billboard's Reggae Albums chart.[5] A compilation album, Here Comes the Hotstepper, was released right before Lyrical Gangsta, to the consternation of Kamoze and his label.[6][4]

Production

The album was produced by Philip Burrell.[7] It was influenced by American hip hop, although Kamoze continued to release purely dancehall singles in Jamaica during the same time.[8] Guru guested on "Who Goes There"; Nine also appears on Lyrical Gangsta.[9][10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution	[12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[13]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[14]
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide	[8]
The Republican	[9]
The Tampa Tribune	[10]

The Toronto Sun dismissed the album as "a blatantly commercial brand of dancehall."[15] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution determined that "the second half of the album is a lesson in dance-hall crooning ... The Hotstepper wafts his mellifluous tenor over hip swaying reggae beats sounding more natural and carrying more of an impact."[12]

Entertainment Weekly wrote that, "with his sweet, singsong tenor offsetting abrasive dancehall reggae backbeats, Ini Kamoze manages to straddle two worlds."[14] The Toronto Star considered the album "more American hip-hop than Jamaican reggae."[16] The Tampa Tribune concluded that "the beauty of his run-of-the-mill vocals is that he doesn't compete with the music, a product of great studio work."[10]

AllMusic wrote that the "duet performance with Guru (of Gang Starr fame) is a great juxtaposition of two very different rapping styles, and 'King Selassie' is a surprisingly sincere and sweetly melodic example of rootswise dancehall."[11]

Track listing

References

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