Kool G Rap & DJ Polo ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ 25th Anniversary
This past Friday (14th August 2015) also marked the 25th Anniversary of Kool G Rap & DJ Polo’s sophomore LP for the Cold Chillin’ label ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’. In a break from the tradition of albums for the label at the time being largely produced by Marley Marl, the LP features extensive production credits for Eric B and contributions from a young Large Professor, the latter widely believed to have been the more ‘hands on’ of the two, Eric B being known primarily as a money man and facilitator rather than a producer in the technical sense. Large Professor also delivers vocals on one of the album’s two posse cuts, ‘Money in the Bank’ alongside Ant Live. The other, ‘Erase Racism’ features Cold Chillin’ stalwarts Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie and was released as a single backed with versions of the album’s title track.
The album comes in at #8 in Ego Trip’s Top 25 Rap Albums of 1990. ‘Streets of New York’, also taken from the album comes in at #11 in Ego Trip’s Top 40 Rap Singles of 1990.
There is currently no official stream for the album on Youtube, although a fairly reliable Youtube stream can be found here.
[Purchase physical copies / check release details on Discogs here]