| Wanted: Dead or Alive | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo | ||||
| Released | August 13, 1990 | |||
| Recorded | 1989–1990 | |||
| Genre | Hip hop, hardcore hip-hop, Mafioso rap | |||
| Length | 58:37 | |||
| Label | Cold Chillin'/Warner Bros. Records 26165 |
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| Producer | Eric B., Large Professor, Kool G Rap, DJ Polo, Marley Marl, Anton, Biz Markie, Cool V | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
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| Kool G Rap & DJ Polo chronology | ||||
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Wanted: Dead or Alive (is the 1990) is a second album by the hip hop duo Kool G Rap & DJ Polo. The album was released a year after their debut, Road to the Riches, and received greater acclaim from most music critics. The singles "Streets of New York" and "Erase Racism" received notable airplay on Yo! MTV Raps and the former is credited by Nas as being influential on his song "N.Y. State of Mind" from his critically acclaimed album Illmatic.
Lyrically, the album shows a greater variety of themes, from the battle rap braggadocio that dominated Road to the Riches, to topics of crime, poverty, racism ("Erase Racism"), and raunchy sex rap ("Talk Like Sex"). Perhaps most significantly, there is greater emphasis on vivid descriptions of crime and urban squalor ("Streets of New York") and references to organized crime, gang violence, contract killing, and Mafia films (the title track, "Money in the Bank", "Death Wish"), which helped cement Kool G Rap's reputation as the founder of mafioso rap.
(*) symbolizes co-producer
| # | Title | Producer(s) | Sample(s)[6] | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Streets of New York" | Kool G Rap, *Large Professor, *Anton |
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4:20 |
| 2 | "Wanted: Dead or Alive" | Eric B, *Large Professor, *Kool G Rap |
4:35 | |
| 3 | "Money in the Bank" (feat. Large Professor, Freddie Foxxx, Ant Live) | Large Professor | 4:59 | |
| 4 | "Bad to the Bone" | Eric B, *Large Professor, *Kool G Rap |
|
5:22 |
| 5 | "Talk Like Sex" | Kool G Rap |
|
5:14 |
| 6 | "Play it Again, Polo" | Eric B, *Large Professor, *Kool G Rap |
|
4:07 |
| 7 | "Erase Racism" (feat. Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie) | Biz Markie, *Cool V |
|
4:31 |
| 8 | "Kool is Back" | Eric B, *Large Professor, *Kool G Rap |
|
3:25 |
| 9 | "Play it Kool" | Eric B, *Large Professor, *Kool G Rap |
4:31 | |
| 10 | "Death Wish" | Eric B, *Large Professor, *Kool G Rap |
4:05 | |
| 11 | "Jive Talk" | DJ Polo, Anton |
|
4:35 |
| 12 | "The Polo Club" | DJ Polo, Anton |
4:01 | |
| 13 | "Rikers Island" | Marley Marl | 5:33 |