''The Giancana Story'' is the third solo

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

by American rapper

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 a ...

, released by

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had ...

on November 26, 2002. Its producers included

Bink Bink may refer to: * Bink Video, a video format popular in many video games * Bink (The Magicians of Xanth), a character of the Xanth series by Piers Anthony * Bink (producer) Roosevelt Harrell III (born February 20, 1972) professionally know ...

, Buckwild,

Jaz-O Jonathan Burks (born October 4, 1964), better known by his stage name Jaz-O (formerly The Jaz), is an American rapper and record producer active in the late 1980s through the 1990s, best known for being the mentor of Brooklyn rapper Jay-Z. Burks ...

Knobody Jerome Foster, better known as Knobody, is an American music producer and A&R. Knobody has produced records across different genres including soul, R&B, hip hop and rock for several multi-platinum artists including Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Akon, The Game, ...

Rockwilder Dana Stinson (born February 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Rockwilder, is an American hip hop record producer and rapper. A long term friend of Def Jam rapper Redman, Rockwilder got his start producing for East Coast hip hop artist ...

and V.I.C., while AZ,

Capone-N-Noreaga Capone-N-Noreaga (also known as C-N-N) are an American hip hop duo formed in 1995 from Queens, New York. The duo features East Coast rappers Capone and N.O.R.E. History In October 1995, Capone-N-Noreaga appeared in ''The Source'' magazine's " ...

Havoc High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) is a set of crewed NASA mission concepts to the planet Venus. All human portions of the missions would be conducted from lighter-than-air craft or from orbit. Background Venus is a planet with a r ...

, Joell Ortiz and

Prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and ...

were amongst the guest vocalists.

Background

After contributing to the Hip Hop for Respect project, a collection of rappers who released an EP to protest against police brutality, and performing the opening verse on the single "One Four Love Pt. 1", Kool G Rap's critically acclaimed turn on the track led to a deal with

Rawkus Records Rawkus Records was an American hip hop record label known for starting the careers of many rappers. Rawkus started in 1995 with releases in hip-hop, drum and bass and fun-dustrial (Dystopia One). Label heads Brian Brater and Jarret Myer then si ...

. ''The Giancana Story'' was intended to be his debut album on the label and was initially set to be released in October 2000. However, the release of the album was delayed for over two years while Rawkus sorted out its increasingly labyrinthine label affiliations and the album was eventually licensed to a

subsidiary and finally received its debut on November 26, 2002. The version of the album recorded for Rawkus and the one released by Koch vary greatly; there were more songs cut from the Koch version than were left on it, and a number of songs were retitled when included the Koch's album. "First Nigga", "First Nigga (

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop du ...

Remix)" (which was a B-side on "The Streets" single), "Ride On" featuring Jagged Edge, "G Rap Is a Villain" featuring Ma Barker, "This Is My Life" featuring

, "Round & Round (Remix)" featuring

Jonell Jonell is a contemporary R&B singer. In 2001, Jonell introduced with her first hit ''Round and Round'' on producer Hi-Tek's album ''Hi-Teknology ''Hi-Teknology'' is the debut album from producer Hi-Tek, released on Rawkus Records. Most songs f ...

, "Keep Goin'" featuring Snoop Dogg and

Devin the Dude Devin Copeland (born June 4, 1970), better known by his stage name Devin the Dude, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He is known for his unique rapping style and his 2002 songs "Lacville '79" and "Doobie Ashtray". Early life Devin Copel ...

, "How It Feel" featuring

, "Y'all Niggas" featuring Black Guerilla Family (which was released as a bonus track and renamed "Planet of the Apes" on the Japanese release of the Koch album), "This Means War", a version of "Holla Back" which included

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

and excluded Tito, "Nobody Can't Eat" (which was a B-side on the "My Life" single), "Ordinary Love" featuring Ma Barker, "Why You Gotta Do It Like That" featuring Ma Barker and "Thug Out" featuring Black Child, Caddillac Tah, Ma Barker and Jinx (the original version of "Spill Blood" which was released as a B-side to the "It's Nothing" single) were at least some of the songs which were recorded for Rawkus but not included on the album by Koch. Three songs from Koch's version of ''The Giancana Story'' were released as singles; "The Streets" (which came with "Thug For Life" as a B-side) in 2001, "My Life" in 2002 and "It's Nothing" (with "Spill Blood" as a B-side) in 2003. The album, however, was not very commercially successful by not making it to the ''Billboard'' 200 and peaking at the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated ...

charts at #63. "First Nigga", "Keep Going" and "Ride On" from the original Rawkus album were also released as

promo single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

s. Although he had previously stated that the "G" in his name stood for "genius", Kool G Rap states on the track "Drama (Bitch Nigga)":

Reception

''The Giancana Story'' received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. John Bush from

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 databa ...

gave the album a rating of four out of five, saying "''The Giancana Story'' proves that time means nothing to one of the greatest rappers ever (though Rawkus took it too far when they declared "the game was named after him"). Don't call it a comeback because he never left but Kool G's third solo record illustrates the rare case of the hip-hop world moving closer to a veteran than when he made his breakout. What sounded refreshing and genuinely unique in 1990 was becoming nearly ubiquitous by the end of the millennium, and besides slipping in a few more words per line than he used to, the first real hardcore rapper hasn't changed his style a whit (or needed to)" and describing the albums's sound as "pure hardcore rap, with all the dark intelligence and heavy venom hip-hop fans expect from a master".

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. ...

's Afrikka also scored the album as four out of five and said "Kool G Rap once again proves he is an incredible storyteller and rhymesayer. With ''the Giancanna Story'' you have an album every serious fan should not be without. The farthest thing from a disappointment, there is no filler material, no water-me-down interludes, just pure music. One would be foolish not to have this album in their collection making it an easy recommendation". Steve "Flash" Juon of RapReviews rated ''The Giancana Story'' at 7½ out of ten, noting "This album is not quite as strong as 1998's highly slept on '' Roots of Evil'' CD or seminal classics like '' Live and Let Die'', but if you want to get your first taste of the

Mario Puzo Mario Francis Puzo (; ; October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author, screenwriter, and journalist. He is known for his crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably '' The Godfather'' (1969), whi ...

of hip-hop, it's a great place to start".

Track listing

;Sample credits * "The Fix" contains a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

from "No Love in the Room" by

The 5th Dimension The 5th Dimension is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire includes pop, R&B, soul, jazz, light opera, and Broadway. Formed as the Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to "the 5th Dimension" by 1966. Betwe ...

. * "My Life" contains a sample from "Fania All Stars' Cha Cha Cha" by

Fania All Stars The Fania All-Stars is a musical group formed in 1968 as a showcase for the musicians on Fania Records, the leading salsa music record label of the time. History Beginnings In 1964, Fania Records was founded in New York City by Jerry Masucci, a ...

. * "Thug Chronicles" contains a sample from "Fourth Movement: Passacaglia" by

Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...

Personnel

Credits for ''The Giancana Story'' adapted from

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 databa ...

.The Giancana Story credits
/ref>

Musicians

– vocals, lyrics * AZ – vocals * Azz Izz – vocals * Capone – vocals *

– vocals, lyrics * Jinx da Juvy – vocals * Nawz – vocals *

Noreaga Victor James Santiago Jr. (born September 6, 1977), better known by his stage names Noreaga and later N.O.R.E., is an American rapper. Born and raised in Queens, New York, Santiago first rose to prominence as one half of the East Coast hip hop ...

– vocals * Joell Ortiz – vocals *

– vocals * Shaqueen – vocals * Tito – vocals

Additional personnel

* Dr. Butcher - producer, composer * Amar Pep – producer, composer * J.R. Baxter – composer * Michael Benabib – photography *

– producer * J.T. Burks – composer * Cochese – mixing * Chris Conway – engineering, mixing * J. Crespo – composer * The Ghetto Pros – mixing, producer * Jeff Gilligan – package design * R. Harrell – composer * Mike Heron – A&R, producer * Robin Hill – sample clearance *

– producer * Robin Hill – sample clearance * Frank Nitti – producer * Matt Quinn – engineer *

– producer, composer * Duncan Stanbury – mixing * Tommy Uzzo – mixing * Max Vargas – engineer * Doug Wilson – engineer, mixing * Young Lord – producer * Carlisle Young – engineer

Charts

Album

Singles

References

External links

*
The Giancana Story
' at

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giancana Story 2002 albums E1 Music albums Kool G Rap albums East Coast hip hop albums Gangsta rap albums by American artists Hardcore hip hop albums Albums produced by Bink (record producer) Albums produced by Buckwild Albums produced by Jaz-O Albums produced by Rockwilder Mafioso rap albums Cultural depictions of Sam Giancana