''Spice 1'' is the self-titled debut album by American rapper

Spice 1 Robert Lee Greene, Jr. (born July 2, 1970), better known by his stage name Spice 1 (an acronym for "Sex, Pistols, Indo, Cash and Entertainment"), is an American rapper from Hayward, California. He began releasing albums in 1992. Career Jive Re ...

, released April 14, 1992 on

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, an ...

. It was certified gold by the RIAA. The album was produced by

Ant Banks Anthony Banks (born March 4, 1966) is an American record producer and rapper from Oakland, California. Biography As a child, he took part in a band at school and then learned to play a variety of instruments along the way. At school he only le ...

, Blackjack, E-A-Ski & CMT and Spice 1. It peaked at number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at number 82 on the ''Billboard'' Top Heatseekers. ((( Spice 1 > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums ))) All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved on January 10, 2010. One single, " Welcome to the Ghetto", peaked at number 39 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and at number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Rap Songs. ((( Spice 1 > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles ))) All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved on January 10, 2010. Along with singles,

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s were produced for four songs: "In My Neighborhood", "Welcome to the Ghetto", "187 Proof" and "East Bay Gangsta".Spice 1 - "East Bay Gangsta" (official video)

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Retrieved on February 4, 2010. Richie Rich makes a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

in "Welcome to the Ghetto". "East Bay Gangsta" and " Welcome to the Ghetto" were

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

s on the other singles. The album was included in the Source Magazine's 100 greatest hip hop albums.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

- "...His style, an appropriate mix of irony, disdain, acceptance and confusion, never succumbs to the situation or seeks to justify or downplay the sense of impending doom." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' (7/24/92, p. 60) - "...Spice 1's lyrics are clever enough to make you forget you've heard it all before...his tales unfold with the drama of short stories..."

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

- "...with a large serving of gunplay and ghetto storytelling. Spice's unique vocal style showcased an uncanny ability to twist and contort his flow...the bass-heavy beats still knock with authority, ideal for bumping in the scraper..."Review: ''Spice 1''

. Retrieved on January 10, 2010.

Track listing

Samples

Welcome to the Ghetto *" Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

*"No One's Gonna Love You" by The S.O.S. Band 187 Pure *"Take Me to the Mardi Gras" by Bob James City Streets *" Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" by

The Dramatics The Dramatics are an American soul music vocal group, formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1964. They are best known for their 1970s hit songs " In the Rain" and "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get", both of which were Top 10 Pop hits, as well as their late ...

F***ed in the Game *"Make Me Believe in You" by

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

In My Neighborhood *"Reach for It" by

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

Money Gone *"Time for a Change" by Mel Brown Money or Murder *"Joy 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 ...

Peace to My Nine *"

One Nation Under a Groove ''One Nation Under a Groove'' is the tenth studio album by American funk rock band Funkadelic, released on September 22, 1978 on Warner Bros. Records. Recording sessions took place at United Sound Studio in Detroit, Michigan, with one song reco ...

" 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 ...

Young N**** *"

Mothership Connection (Star Child) "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" is a funk song by Parliament. It was the third and last single released from the group's 1975 album ''Mothership Connection''. The song introduces George Clinton's messianic alien alter ego Star Child ...

" 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 ...

*" Us" by

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 ...

Note: The sample credits contain a disclaimer from George Clinton disparaging the lyrical content of the song, yet stating the sample was allowed due to the message of music as a free agent of change inherent in "Mothership Connection." This type of note was uncommon for most artists who were sampling.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

;RIAA Certification

References

External links

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Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

*
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Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

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MusicBrainz MusicBrainz is a MetaBrainz project that aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for sof ...

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Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records ...

{{Authority control Spice 1 albums 1992 debut albums Albums produced by Ant Banks Albums produced by E-A-Ski Jive Records albums