''Kill at Will'' (titled ''At Will'' in its censored version) is an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

by American rapper

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

, released in 1990 via

Priority Records Priority Records is an American distribution company and record label known for artists including N.W.A, Ice-T, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Big L, Silkk the Shocker and Westside Connection. It also distributed hip hop record labels including Death Row R ...

. It was released soon after ''

AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted ''AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Ice Cube, released on May 16, 1990, by Priority Records. It was his first solo album, after an acrimonious split from his former group N.W.A. The album was primarily produc ...

'' and capitalized on Cube's newfound solo success. The last track, "I Gotta Say What Up!!!", contains a diss directed toward

N.W.A N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...

in response to the group dissing Ice Cube on their 1990 EP '' 100 Miles and Runnin'''.

Critical reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' praised "the lighthearted 'Jackin’ for Beats' (which bites EPMD, PE, Digital Underground, LL Cool J and others) and the devastating 'Dead Homiez', in which ubesolemnly contemplates the murder of a friend over an evocative mix of horn, guitar and piano."

Track listing

Partial list of samples

"Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside) (Remix)" * "

The Payback ''The Payback'' is the 37th studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in December 1973, by Polydor Records. It was originally scheduled to become the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film '' Hell Up in Harlem'', but ...

" by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

* "

Funky Drummer "Funky Drummer" is a single released by James Brown in 1970. Its drum break, improvised by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampled music recordings. Recording and composition "Funky Drummer" was recorded on November 20, 196 ...

" by

* "Standin' on the Verge of Gettin' It On" by

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkadeli ...

* " Bop Gun (Endangered Species)" by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

* "

Straight Outta Compton ''Straight Outta Compton'' is the debut studio album by rap group N.W.A, which, led by Eazy-E, formed in Los Angeles County's City of Compton in early 1987. Released by his label, Ruthless Records, on August 8, 1988, the album was produced b ...

(Extended Mix)" by

* " Bring the Noise" by

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

"The Product" * "Good Times" by

Kool and the Gang Kool & the Gang is an American R&B/soul/ funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964 by brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell, with Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, Robert "Spike" Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, and Ricky West. ...

* "Rated X" by

* "

Jungle Boogie "Jungle Boogie" is a funk song recorded by Kool & the Gang for their 1973 album '' Wild and Peaceful''. It reached number four as a single, and became very popular in nightclubs. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number 12 song for 1974, despite ther ...

" by

* "

You Can Make It If You Try "You Can Make It If You Try" is a song written by Ted Jarrett and recorded by Gene Allison in 1957. In 1958, Allison's recording peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. R&B singles chart, and at No. 36 or at No. 37 (sources differ) on the U.S. pop singles ...

" by

Sly & the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi- ...

* "Train Sequence", narrated by

Geoffrey Sumner Geoffrey Sumner (20 November 1908, Ilfracombe, Devon – 29 September 1989, Alderney, Channel Islands) was a British actor. As well as appearing in a number of films, he was also a commentator for British Movietone News., His parents were Edmund ...

* "Funky Drummer" by

* "The Nigga Ya Love to Hate" by Ice Cube * "Illegal Search" by

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

"I Gotta Say What Up!!!" * "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" by

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

* "

Synthetic Substitution "Synthetic Substitution" is a 1973 song by Melvin Bliss. Originally starting life as a throwaway B-side, with "Reward" as the A-Side, the song failed to chart anywhere on its initial release because of the collapse of Opal Productions, the parent ...

" by

Melvin Bliss Melvin McClelland (June 1, 1945-July 26, 2010) was a rhythm and blues singer known for his 1973 in music, 1973 song "Reward/Synthetic Substitution", the B-side of which was heavily sampled

* "Who Stole the Soul?" by

"Dead Homiez" * "Rollin' Wit the Lench Mob" by Ice Cube * "Do Like I Do" by Smokey Robinson "Jackin' for Beats" * "

It's a Man's Man's Man's World "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" is a song written by James Brown and Betty Jean Newsome. Brown recorded it on February 16, 1966, in a New York City studio and released it as a single later that year. It reached No. 1 on the '' Billboard'' R&B ...

" by

* "

" by

* "

Funky President Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

" by

* "

" by

* " I Know You Got Soul" by

Bobby Byrd Bobby Howard Byrd (August 15, 1934 – September 12, 2007) was an American rhythm and blues, soul and funk singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, bandleader and talent scout, who played an integral and important part in the development ...

* "Hot Pants - I'm Coming, I'm Coming, I'm Coming" by

* " Bop Gun (Endangered Species)" by

* " Sing a Simple Song" by

* "

Big Ole Butt "Big Ole Butt" is the third single from LL Cool J's third album, ''Walking with a Panther''. It was released in 1989 for Def Jam Recordings and was produced by Dwayne Simon and LL Cool J. "Big Ole Butt" would prove to be a mild success, making ...

" by

* " So Wat Cha Sayin'" by

EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. ...

* "Heed the Word of the Brother" by

X-Clan X Clan (formerly stylized as XCLAN and often incorrectly spelled X-Clan) is a hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York, originally consisting of Grand Verbalizer Funkin' Lesson Brother J, Professor X the Overseer, Paradise the Architect, and Su ...

* "They Call Me D-Nice" by D-Nice * " Ashley's Roachclip" by

The Soul Searchers Charles Louis Brown (August 22, 1936 – May 16, 2012) was an American guitarist, bandleader and singer known as " The Godfather of Go-Go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area in the mid-197 ...

* "Bon Bon Vie" by T.S. Monk * "

Tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English ''t ...

" by

Lowell Fulsom Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most i ...

* "Psychedelic Shack" by

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

* "Hector" by Village Callers * "The Big Beat" by

Billy Squier William Haislip Squier (, born May 12, 1950) is an American rock musician and singer who had a string of arena rock and crossover hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include "The Stroke", "Lonely Is the Night", "My Kinda Lover", "In t ...

* "The Haunted House", narrated by Laura Olsher * "Welcome to the Terrordome" by

* "

The Humpty Dance "The Humpty Dance" is a song by the American rap group Digital Underground from their debut album '' Sex Packets''. Released as the second single from the album in January 1990, it reached No. 11 on the pop chart, No. 7 on the R&B chart, and No. ...

" by

Digital Underground Digital Underground was an American alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California. Their personnel changed and rotated with each album and tour. Digital Underground's leader and mainstay was Gregory " Shock G" Jacobs (also known as Humpty H ...

* "

Rebel Without a Pause "Rebel Without a Pause" is a song by hip hop group Public Enemy and the first single from their 1988 album, '' It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. The title is a reference to the 1955 film ''Rebel Without a Cause''. History "Rebel Wi ...

" by

* " 100 Miles and Runnin" by

Later samples

* "Dead Homiez" ** "Young Black Male" by

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

from the album '' 2Pacalypse Now'' * "The Product" ** "Young Black Male" by

from the album '' 2Pacalypse Now''

Album singles

" Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)" * Released: 1990 * B-side: "Dead Homiez"

Critical reception

Track listing

Partial list of samples

Later samples

Album singles

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References