The Ghettos Tryin to Kill Me!

by Jason BirchmeierMaster P's early-'90s underground activity blossomed on The Ghettos Tryin to Kill Me!, a wonderfully exploitative album driven by lo-fi G-funk beats and gutter-mentality gangsta rhymes. The album itself doesn't sound too much different from Master P's other early releases, still marred by a spare-change production quality; however, it's the execution that makes The Ghettos Tryin to Kill Me! such an impressive step forward for the aspiring kingpin. Rather than simply emulate West Coast gangsta rappers like N.W.A and Above the Law as he had on previous releases, Master P begins to carve out a niche of his own here. The Dirty South motifs still aren't quite yet apparent, but the griminess of the later releases certainly is, as nearly every song here references drug dealing and murder, particularly the standout title track. In fact, like all the other pre-Ghetto D albums, Master P is at his rawest here, willing to exploit whatever hardcore motifs he could in order to get a rise from his listeners. He's joined on practically every song by his Cali-era No Limit colleagues, including King George, Big Ed, Cali G, Sonya C, and Silkk the Shocker. Fellow Bay Area hardcore rappers JT the Bigga Figga and San Quinn join the festivities on "Playa Haterz." If you want to hear Master P at his most unapologetically exploitative, this is where to go -- if you can find it, that is. [No Limit re-released and repackaged The Ghettos Tryin to Kill Me! in 1997 after scoring its distribution deal with Priority. Track listings differ; in particular, only the very rare first edition features songs with King George that weren't included on reissues because of beef.]