Search - Various Artists :: Rhyme Syndicate

Legendary West Coast Crew!!

Nicolas V. Orizaga | Bakersfield, CA United States | 06/11/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This album is important for many reasons. Not only is it a good representation of late 80s/early 90s West coast hip-hop, its practically a who's-who of some of hip-hop's greatest artists. The Rhyme Syndicate was Ice-T's crew, and had a lot of respect in the early 90s. Some of the members of the crew included Everlast, W.C., Coolio, Lord Finesse, Divine Styler, Hen G & Evil E, Donald D, Bilal Bashir & DJ Battlecat among others...Everlast represents here with a dope, fast-paced song produced by Bilal Bashir. Another highlight is the track by Low Profile (W.C., Coolio and DJ Aladdin), and they deliver an angry song, the type that made the radio scared to play 'gangsta rap' before Dr. Dre's "The Chronic"...unfortunately, the group never blew up as a crew mainly because the managers of the group were too interested in focusing on Ice-T alone, rather than promoting his group members, as record labels do today. (A nice follow-up to this album came in the form of the "Trespass" soundtrack with Ice-T, AMG, Lord Finesse, Donald D, WC and Coolio all making appearances). Fortunately though, Lord Finesse went onto bigger success with Diggin' In The Crates. W.C. has had a successful career with both the Maad Circle and Westside Connection. Coolio dominated 1995 with "Gangsta's Paradise", "Too Hot" and "Fantastic Voyage". Everlast has enjoyed success with both House of Pain and as a solo artist. Bilal Bashir would later discover the group Styles of Beyond.Divine Styler would release three albums that would become the foundation for emo-rap artists from Definitve Jux and Anticon. Most of the other artists eventually released solo albums. Even though Ice-T is mostly known for his acting these days, he knew what talent was, and it along with perseverence, helped many of these guys succeed, outside of what could've been one of the best hip-hop posses ever."