''Once Upon a Crime'' is the debut studio album by American

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-based hip hop duo

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. It was released on November 19, 2013, through

Psycho+Logical-Records Psycho+Logical-Records is an independent record label based in New York City. Founded in 1999 by rapper and producer Necro, its first release was Necro's debut ''I Need Drugs''. It went on to release notable albums by hip hop artists such as th ...

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was handled by member Necro with one song, "Unsub", co-produced by member

Kool G Rap Nathaniel Thomas Wilson (born July 20, 1968), better known by his stage name Kool G Rap (or simply G Rap), is an American rapper from Queens, New York City. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as ...

. It features the lone

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from Mr. Hyde. Songs "Heart Attack" and "Wolf Eyes" were released as

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Background

Necro and

first announced their Godfathers project and collaboration in 2011 and released two mix CDs consisting of fifty previously released songs from the pair, ''The Pre-Kill Volume I'' in November 2011 and then ''The Pre-Kill Volume II'' in July 2012. They had initially announced that their first official album would be released in the first half of 2012, but ''Once Upon a Crime'' would not launch until November 2013. The album was

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by Necro and

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Critical reception

''Once Upon a Crime'' received generally mixed to positive reviews from

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. Mark Bozzer of ''

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''gave the album 7 out of 10, praising the duo's synergy. Jay Balfour of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

'' noted, "the casual fan or those keeping up with G Rap's late career output might find a handful of songs worth mining, but without a previous investment in the over-the-top style, listening through is a test of endurance". Matt Jost of RapReviews concluded: "yet despite some fundamental flaws ''Once Upon a Crime'' is a record hip-hop can be proud of, one that represents the part of the family with ties to the underworld (and sometimes the afterworld) with aplomb".

Track listing

Personnel

*Ron " Necro" Braunstein – vocals, producer, executive producer *Nathaniel "

" Wilson – vocals, co-producer (track 11) *Christopher "Mr. Hyde" Catenacci – vocals (track 16) * Domingo Padilla – executive producer

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2013 albums Kool G Rap albums Necro (rapper) albums Psycho+Logical-Records albums The Godfathers (rap duo) albums Albums produced by Necro (rapper)