The 1990 debut from Above The Law (ATL) came as a fresh cut to represent a new rising out on the West Coast as after N.W.A and other Gangsta Rap acts who had emerged as a result. The Compton group (who consisted then of Cold 187um, KMG, Go Mack and Total K-Oss) worked alongside the ‘Most Dangerous Rap Group’ (N.W.A) with Dre on some of the production, and the rappers all coming together to lay down rhymes at the end of this “Livin’ Like Hustlers” album. It is also cited as the first G-Funk album, and this sub-genre was to be developed later for Dr. Dre’s debut “The Chronic” and trying it out with other albums before late 1992.
1. “Murder Rap”
The album gets going in a strong way as after a short snippet of an Eazy-E interview, it moves into what was their breakthrough single, in which they drive the thing through the impactful beats which get them taking on a style which reflects what you got from the N.W.A. work of this time with backtracking and funky percussion.
**Four Stars**
2. “Untouchable”
They get into one here which has them allowing Cold 187um to direct
the thing and take the lead in the rhymes as they move towards something that the listeners wouldn’t have heard up o the point when this dropped and gets them showing (as many rappers on their debut) the strength of their lyrics and how well they can construct tracks; which is done fairly well.
**Four Stars**
3. “Livin’ Like Hustlers”
The titular track to the album is a banger, and one which I personally prefer over “Murder Rap” as this one has the ATL getting into one which seems to act as a very early version of what you get from the G-Funk of the years which would follow this as the South Central LA act get busy on some smooth grooves which have a retro feel to them.
**Five Stars**
4. “Another Execution”
With this one you get the same sort of thing which you in the one prior it, but I key change to it was the fact that the pace is taken to a place which up to that point was rarely done and it seemed to influence many other West Coast acts to do the same as they do things in a stalled, laid-back manner to depict what the region is really about, and how it must be expressed musically (in comparison to how at the time the East Coast were still keeping to the speed rap trend).
**Five Stars**
5. “Menace To Society”
This is a killer jam from them and has them working to the best of their ability as they jump on top of some of the most impressive beats which you get from this one as they get into a mid-tempo joint which takes you surprise 9off the slow one before it) and has them kicking some funky rhymes which reflect the time as the West Coasters took on a style which seemed to reflect the funky mid eighties rhymes of the East Coast, rather than the progressiveness you would have heard in the music from the likes of Eric B & Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and LL Cool J at this time in New York.
This is a rat her straight-forward one from them as it gets them getting into one where they get loose with it as they come with funky fresh rhymes and just allow themselves to just do what eve comes natural to them. It is well-suited to their laid-back style and has them throw out a strong filler joint.
**Four Stars**
7. “Ballin’”
This one has them moving things on quite a bit as you find that they get into one which changes the way in which they do things with a floaty and light one which takes form the expectations of a Ruthless Gangsta Rap act. They do some gentle tag team rhyme here and it seems to give them a chance to show another side to their music.
**Four Stars**
8. “Freedom Of Speech”
Expressing the fact that they have acknowledged the power of Hip Hop by this time, you see that with this one they get into a fresh one where they appear to back up N.W.A. and another such as 2 Live Crew, who both went through massive backlashes as people in high society caught onto the underground movement which had brewed up.
**Five Stars**
9. “Flow On”
This one is one which appears to last for ages, in site of its fairly regular length. It has them getting into one where they d what they did a couple earlier as they get let themselves go and flow to show exactly how well they have been able to develop their rhymes to the stage where the raps come naturally as they here a funky beat such as the one which backs the here.
**Four Stars**
10. “The Last Song”
The album ends in a heavy way as you see that after a strong build up, you find a hardcore tune in which Eazy-E, MC Ren and Dr. Dre of N.W.A get vocal roles and get the chance to show how significant their role was in creating this album with ATL. It is a rough track and ends it off on a big high.
**Five Stars**
This is a strong debut album and one of many key West Coast Hip Hop albums to really make the Gangsta Rap movement what it went on to be as they move on the kind of things which N.W.A did and manage to influence them and many others to adapt to a much calmer style which escapes the relentless violence.
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