''Grip It! On That Other Level'' is the second studio album by the

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

based

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

group, the Ghetto Boys (later spelled Geto Boys), released on March 12, 1989, on Rap-A-Lot Records. Following the disappointing results of the group's first album, Rap-A-Lot CEO James Prince replaced two of the group members with Scarface (then known as Akshen) and Willie D, who joined original members Bushwick Bill and DJ Ready Red. Recording for the album began in 1988, and finished in early 1989. The majority of the album's tracks were produced by DJ Ready Red, and much of the album's lyrical content deals with violent and misogynistic topics, which would later be credited for pioneering the

horrorcore Horrorcore (also called shock rap, horror hip hop, horror rap, death hip hop, death rap, or murder rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery. Its origins derived from ...

hip hop subgenre. Upon its 1989 release, ''Grip It! On That Other Level'' reached number 166 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and number 19 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. The song "Do it Like a G.O." was the album's only single used for promotion. ''Grip It!'' was well received in the hip hop community, and was considered to be the group's breakout album, as it gave them national exposure and eventually sold 500,000 copies.Caesar, Syd
Grip It on That Other Level
geniusrap.com. Retrieved 2014-02-21. A year after its release, super-producer

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

remixed 10 of its tracks for the 1990 remix album '' The Geto Boys''. In 1998, '' The Source'' magazine included ''Grip It! On That Other Level'' on their 100 Best Albums list, and in 2002, they gave it the perfect five mic' rating.

Background

In 1988, Rap-A-Lot Records founder James Prince decided to invest his full budget and attention towards the Ghetto Boys, as he saw them as the most promising music-act on his label.Rap-A-Lot Records: 25 year anniversary documentary. Rap-A-Lot Records. 2011. Retrieved 2014-02-21. After the critical and commercial failure of the group's debut album '' Making Trouble'', J. Prince felt that the Ghetto Boys needed to go in a different direction, and that their line-up needed to change. He opted to keep DJ Ready Red and their

hype man A hype man, typically in hip hop music, is a backing vocalist who supports the primary performer with exclamations, interjections, or ad-libs in an attempt to increase an audience's excitement or engagement. Origins Early hype men included Keef C ...

Bushwick Bill, but dropped Sire Jukebox and Prince Johnny C, as he saw the latter two as copying several artists from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Willie D, who had signed to Rap-A-Lot as a solo artist in 1988, was added to the group at James Prince's request as a favor. Willie would later reveal that he was reluctant at first to join the fold, as he wanted to make a solo album. However, his debut LP entitled ''

Controversy Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...

'', would be released several months after ''Grip It! On That Other Level''. After hearing about a local rapper named Akshen who was gaining notoriety in the

hip hop community, J. Prince and his brother set up an

audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece gi ...

at DJ Ready Red's house, with Akshen, or James' brother getting the final spot as a member of the Geto Boys. As the two began to compete over DJ Ready Red's beats, James Prince was impressed by Akshen's lyrical abilities, as well as his serious subject matter, which was un-common in hip hop at that time. Akshen, who would later change his stage name to Scarface, ended up getting the spot as the fourth and final member of the Geto Boys. Recording for ''Grip It! On That Other Level'' began in 1988, and reached completion in early 1989. The album was well received in the Hip hop community, and gave the group exposure in the east coast and west coast, where

southern hip hop Southern hip-hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip-hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip-hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee ...

was previously ignored. James Prince later revealed that if ''Grip It! On That Other Level'' wasn't a success, he was going to shut down Rap-A-Lot Records, and quit the music industry.

Reception

''Grip It! On That Other Level'' has received mostly favorable reviews. In 1990, '' The Source'' gave it a four out of five rating, and when comparing it to the group's remix album '' The Geto Boys'', they favored Grip It!, stating that some of the changes on the remix album "aren't for the better".Collumnist
Album review
'' The Source''. Retrieved 2014-02-21. However, in his review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Andy Kellman called the remix version an "improvement".Kellman, Andy
''Grip It! On That Other Level'' review

. Retrieved 2014-02-21. In 1998, ''The Source'' magazine included ''Grip It! On That Other Level'' on their 100 Best Albums list,Columnist. . '' The Source''. Retrieved 2014-02-21. and in 2002, they gave it the perfect five out of five mic rating.Kazeem (August 4, 2010)
The Complete List Of 5 Mic Hip-Hop Classics
'' The Source''. Retrieved on 2010-12-23. In the 2004 edition of ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'', Christian Hoard stated that with ''Grip It!'', the Geto Boys "filled a void that the mainstream didn't know they had yet; shock-rap." He also listed "Mind of a Lunatic" and "Trigga Happy Nigga" as "galling tracks".

Track listing

;Sample credits * "Do It Like a G.O." contains a sample of "Superfly" by

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...

, "Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey, and "Apache" from The Incredible Bongo Band. * "Gangster of Love" contains a sample of "The Joker" by

Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966. The band is led by Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles ...

. * "Talkin Loud Ain't Saying Nothin" contains a sample of "Skin Tight" by Ohio Players and "Talkin' Loud & Sayin' Nothing" by

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

. * "No Sell Out" contains a sample of "Rocket in the Pocket" by Cerrone. * "Let a Ho Be a Ho" contains a sample of "Money" by

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

. * "Scarface" contains a sample of "Blues and Pants" by James Brown, and "Gimme What You Got" by Pomplamoose. * "Life in the Fast Lane" contains a sample of "The Big Bang Theory" 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 ...

. * "Mind of a Lunatic" contains a sample of "Givin' Up Food for Funk" by The J.B.'s, written by James Brown and Fred Wesley, and samples from "Funky Drummer (Bonus Beat Reprise)" by James Brown.

Personnel

The Ghetto Boys * Brad "Akshen" Jordan – performer (later known as Scarface) * William "Willie D" Dennis – performer * Richard "Bushwick Bill" Shaw – performer Production * Collins "DJ Ready Red" Leysath – producer * John Bido – producer * Doug King – producer * Prince Johnny C – producer * J. Smith – producer * James Prince – executive producer * Clifford Blodget – engineer, executive producer * Billy Roberts – photography

Charts

References

External links

''Grip It! On That Other Level'' releases
at Discogs.com {{Authority control 1989 albums Geto Boys albums Rap-A-Lot Records albums