Wanted: Dead or Alive (Kool G Rap & DJ Polo album)

Wanted: Dead or Alive
Studio album by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo
Released	August 13, 1990
Recorded	1987–1990
Genre	Hip hop, hardcore hip-hop, Mafioso rap
Length	58:37
Label	Cold Chillin'/Warner Bros. Records 26165
Producer	Eric B., Large Professor, Kool G Rap, DJ Polo, Marley Marl, Anton, Biz Markie, Cool V
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo chronology
Road To The Riches (1989) Wanted: Dead or Alive (1990) Live and Let Die (1992)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]
The Source	[4]
Sputnikmusic	4.5/5 [5]
Trouser Press	Favorable[6]

Wanted: Dead or Alive is the second album by the hip hop duo Kool G Rap & DJ Polo. The album was released a year after the duo's 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.

Track listing

(*) denotes co-producer

Rikers Island (single)

"Rikers Island"
Single by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo
from the album Wanted: Dead or Alive
A-side	Rikers Island
B-side	Rhyme Time
Released	1987 1991 (re-release)
Format	12-inch single
Recorded	1987
Genre	East coast hip hop, golden age hip hop, hardcore hip hop
Length	5:33
Label	Cold Chillin', Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Marlon Williams, Nathaniel Wilson
Producer(s)	Marley Marl
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo singles chronology
"It's a Demo" (1986) "Rikers Island" (1987) "Poison" (1988)

"Rikers Island" is the second single from American hip hop duo Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, originally released as a non-album single with "Rhyme Time" as a B-side in 1987 and later re-released as the fourth single from the 1990 album Wanted: Dead or Alive. It was later also featured on the compilation albums Killer Kuts (1994) and The Best of Cold Chillin' (2000).

Background

Produced by Marley Marl, "Rikers Island" is a hardcore hip hop song that warns of the dangers of living a life of crime and ending up in the Rikers Island jail where violence is a daily occurrence and even the toughest street criminals can be broken down.^[7][8]

Samples

• "Rikers Island" was later sampled on:^[9]
• "40 Island" by Noreaga featuring Kool G Rap and Mussolini

Track listing

A-side

1. "Rikers Island" (5:37)

B-side

1. "Rhyme Time" (6:29)

Videos (added to 2007 Traffic Entertainment reissue)

1. Streets of New York
2. Erase Racism

References

External links

• "Rikers Island" at Discogs
• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics