1. "it's an OK album. I'd say good, even." In response to Reply # 0 Fri Aug-22-14 10:02 AM by Dr Claw
however in 1996, standards were high (as was all the press about this album).
a lot of the remixes of the songs on the record were much better than what was released.
The album cuts (particularly "Miami Life" and "Sonset") were definitely worth it, but you can't float on with deep cuts.
the discussion about how "bad" the beats is overblown. as is the praise for "Nature of The Threat" (which is not major-label, even in the '90s material)
I definitely like it better than Rassassination. Ras had a serious identity crisis going on there. and even rhyming on the Dre interlude that I actually liked... ain't gonna work.
edit: it actually KIND OF reminds me of All City.
they had ILL 12"s prior to the album dropping... which was underwhelming outside of a couple of tracks. still not bad, but never lived up to those 12"s
15. "Didn't All City release "Metrotheme" years before their album" In response to Reply # 1
I thought I heard the original and the remix a couple years before "The Actual" and "Priceless" came out. I still have "The Acutal" b/w "Priceless" 12-inch. Primo and Pete on one single; I thought their album would be good, but I only really liked the more hyped emcee. That album was weak.
I'm sure we discussed this before but the Actual was such a banger and then the album was a borderline turd to me amd I sold it within a week. However, due to a lot of 90's shit sounding better today than then, this might be another one I need to revisit...
2. "Your options are fucked up" In response to Reply # 0
I copped this album when it dropped and it was never on my good list. There are a few songs so I won't select "not at all" but no, it's not in the top 25 of 1996.
I would probably take your theory a step further and say a lot its praise is due to the illusion that is Nature of the Threat but I don't really want to get into that.
18. "RE: I agree. It's definitelty a combination of Ras having #BARZ" In response to Reply # 7
>and people thinking The "Nature of the Threat" was deep
nowhere near as bad as people act like
plenty of decent clues in that track to warrant it being something that, at that time, was deep enough to make cats search
<and >even somehow "important". Beats were boring and Ras never >proved to be a songwriter. > >
beats were not stellar but not bad either
the songwriter shit, i dont even know what to say...more or less most rappers didn't have a debut as dope as SoI & the songs were more than just lyrical displays, they were somewhat topical
12. "I think the album is good & "Nature of A Threat" is one of the skippers" In response to Reply # 2
>I copped this album when it dropped and it was never on my >good list. There are a few songs so I won't select "not at >all" but no, it's not in the top 25 of 1996. > >I would probably take your theory a step further and say a lot >its praise is due to the illusion that is Nature of the Threat >but I don't really want to get into that.
"Drama" is another skipper, but mostly because of Coolio's verse. I enjoy "If/Then", but the chorus is just horrid so I see a lot of people not liking it.
5. "I like that album" In response to Reply # 0 Fri Aug-22-14 10:36 AM by Nick Has a Problem..
The production fit his flow and concepts. Wish he would've stuck with Western Hemisfear honestly because his attempts at the mainstream lost my interest. Not sure why he stopped fucking with them.
The only joints I didn't rock with were "Marinatin'" and "Nature of the Threat".
****************************************** Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks
9. "RE: Yes, very much so. It features the following tracks:" In response to Reply # 8
>On Earth As It Is in Heaven >Reelishymn >Etc. >Sonset >The Evil That Men Do >If/Then >Order Abchao > >That's enough to make it more than a good album.
Fa sho!
****************************************** Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks
I feel the same way about a lot of 90's Hip-Hop albums. Like I bought the Artifacts records and played them a few times but they didn't exactly knock me over or strike me as great. Todasy, they sound really badass.
Anyway, "Soul on ice" is not BAD and never was but there's something about the combination of his rapping and the kind of "boring" (NOT bad!) beats that makes it a bit dire and dull, like the record just feels "grey" to me as opposed to colourful. Again, Not bad though...
BTW, either shortly before or after the record was released, I bought a 12" called "Won't catch me running/Remain anonymous" from the cut-out bin in a local metal store (yup!) for practically nothing; at least "Remain..." is better than anything on the album and a certified banger in my book. Also, in the early days (for me) on the internet and newsgroups like rec.music.hip-hop, some american sent me what was supposed to be Ras REAL (?) first album (maybe it was just 12"s and demos but he claimed it was the original iteration) in a trade for some swedish shit on a tape which included those songs as well as other shit that I liked more than the album from what I can remember. Unfortunately, I lost this tape years ago but I'm sure I can find that shit on a blog somewhere, time to go hunting!!!
The 2nd album was weak, and I wasn't a huge fan of the ultimate. However, looking back, it's not that bad. I put it in the Masterminds Underground Railroad category of albums that we just alright at the time, but I'd listen to more now (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO81OHTXhrk)
39. "Both of their albums are dope" In response to Reply # 33
I mean, they were like Redman where they didn't really talk about shit other than how ill they were and smoking weed but both albums were quality hip-hop.
24. ""take the wackest song and make it better"" In response to Reply # 23
with hat fucking lyrics num nut.
hot lyrics will take the wackest shit and make it listenable if not damn fucking good.
it takes a real hot turd of a beat to take away from dope lyrics, and there isn't a hot turd on soul on ice. no certified bangers i'll give you that, but no hot turd's either. so if you have to complain about the album by saying the beats are wack, it means you weren't paying attention to the lyrics, which is probably because rap is just an accessory to you. you may dress it up as i like beats and lyrics, but beats always comes first. and that's okay.
Mind you I don't think those beats are really ass, shit some of them are straight bangers in my book (Battle Drill, Bent, Hype Shit) but the majority of them wouldn't do anything for me if it weren't for the fact that Saafir is spitting that fire.
32. "Marshall Mathers LP 2" In response to Reply # 28
I'd say 75% of the beats on that album are borderline unlistenable, but I can recognize that Em displays some serious lyrical chops on there. But the beat shave prevented me from listening to it that much.
>Mind you I don't think those beats are really ass, shit some >of them are straight bangers in my book (Battle Drill, Bent, >Hype Shit) but the majority of them wouldn't do anything for >me if it weren't for the fact that Saafir is spitting that >fire.
I actually like all of the beats on that album. Besides the ones you mentioned, "Light Sleeper," "Real Circus," "Can You Feel Me," and "Joint Custody," to just name a few, would all sound dope no matter who was rapping over them. Saafir just makes them sound perfect.
25. "It was solid not spectacular" In response to Reply # 0
I was disappointed because I thought Ras had the potential to make a top 20 all time album. I think the Coolio connection wasn't the best decision he ever made. The remix of Soul On Ice with Diamond D shows what this album could have been. Ras is someone I would have loved to see do an entire album with Madlib or Dilla to give him a consistent quality sound over the course of an entire album instead of hit and miss production.
29. "RE: Is Ras Kass' "Soul On Ice" a good album?" In response to Reply # 0
soul on ice is a good album, definitely underrated imo as the beats aren't nearly as terrible as most people make them out to be and fit most of the songs well. diamond's classic remix of the title track murdering everything on the album didn't help that perception either.
the fact that the soul on ice demo is vastly better than the actual retail album doesn't help either. i wish ras would find ed whitfield or whatever that atl falcons player's name was that owned patchwerk and remaster and release those demos, cause they were straight fire.
--------------------------------------- Some words of wisdom to the idiotic okayplayers...
It Is Better To Be Thought Of As A Fool, Than To Open Your Mouth And Remove All Doubt.
35. "RE: hate the beat crticism back then" In response to Reply # 34
>the beats were good, rapping was ill....it was a complete >effort. only weird beat was the soul on ice original. >
and I dug the OG version too
> >that second album tho................what happened there? >
that second album was a big step in the wrong direction. he had a few songs that went in but he blatantly tried to crossover. everybody isn't made to be a star. play your position and do you.
****************************************** Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks
36. "Ehh Ras is pretty charismatic, I understood why he tried to crossover" In response to Reply # 35
>>the beats were good, rapping was ill....it was a complete >>effort. only weird beat was the soul on ice original. >> > >and I dug the OG version too > >> >>that second album tho................what happened there? >> > >that second album was a big step in the wrong direction. he >had a few >songs that went in but he blatantly tried to crossover. >everybody isn't >made to be a star. play your position and do you.
He always came across as way more fun loving and personable than a lot of his music let on. I was a Ras stan back then, and I thought he had a chance to be up there with Nas. The problem was that the crossover records were just really, really bad. Really, really bad.
37. "One of my favorite albums of all time" In response to Reply # 0
At this point I treat Nature of the Threat as an interlude (and yes I am very aware of his historical inaccuracies but this shit was fuel for a self-hating 14 year-old whiteboy
I thought the production was fine and fit the music well
Few albums where the rapper really just spit from front to back
Brag track, party track, historical takedown track, industry realtalk track, religious allegory track, personal history track, beef track, girl track, political track
I would say Etc and If/Then are the ones I'm not really into but the rest of the tracks are all great
I listened to this album for the first time in 2002 I think so I don't have the same context of disappointment for people who heard his singles first and thought the album wasn't as strong
If this shit came out in 2014 it would be hailed as album of the year. If you want to hear a rapper rapping, there are few albums that deliver that as well
If the Apollo Brown album is 1/10th as good as this...mannnn.....
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