http://www.pushinthebay.com -
PART 1 of 3. PTBTV aka Pushin'
The Bay EXCLUSIVE! In this exclusive / rare video,
Emcee T aka
The Chinese King of the Bay speaks with
Bay Area rap founder / OG,
Spice 1 in
Hayward, California.
Spice 1 (born
Robert L. Green, Jr. in
Corsicana, Texas), is a
West Coast rapper raised in Hayward, California, best known for his acclaimed self-titled
album Spice 1. He has consistently been releasing solo and group albums since. Spice 1 was ranked number 56 in
The Source magazine's Top 115 Hip-Hop Artists from
1988 -
2003.
He was first discovered by rapper
Too Short. His first album,
Let It Be Known, was not well-known or widely released, and included seven old-school style tracks. His second album (contains the four more popular tracks from the previous EP, Let It Be Known), widely considered as his debut, was a very vivid and fatalistic
Gangsta rap album, and his angry, edgy, and pessimistic rapping style and tone only added to the despair emanating from the disc. He followed it with an even more bitter and nihilistic release,
187 He Wrote in
1993, complete with simulated gunfire.
Spice 1 managed to release six albums under
Jive records along with one greatest hits album under
Jive as well. It was reported by Jive that he has an album called "
Full Metal Jacket", which was suppose to release under Jive. However, Spice 1 stated in many interviews that this information was false. It was something Jive wanted to push him into releasing, but he never agreed to do so. Therefore, the album was never released and it is uncertain whether or not songs for this album were used for future albums or if any songs were even recorded for this project.
While Spice 1 was signed to Jive, three of his albums reached
Gold status. According to the
RIAA, these albums were Spice 1, 187 He Wrote and
AmeriKKKa's Nightmare. He continued to have success on later albums as well, though he never managed receive further certificates for selling over
500,000.
Despite this he never changed his image, continuing to retain a gangster image throughout his career on
Jive Records. The biggest song in his career was "
Nigga Gots No Heart" from the
Menace II Society (soundtrack). However, at the same time he released "
Trigga Gots No Heart", which also served as a first single for his album, fellow rap artist
MC Eiht also had a hit single from the
Soundtrack which took the number one spot called "
Straight Up Menace".
Leaving Spice 1 with the second best single off the soundtrack.
After 8 years, Spice 1 released his last album with the label, The
Immortalized. Though it received good reviews, it was not well promoted and didn't sell as expected. According to Spice 1, he left Jive Records because they wanted him to clean up his image.
Menace II Society is a 1993 hood film and the directorial debut of twin brothers
Allen and Albert Hughes.
The hit movie gained notoriety for its frequent scenes of violence, profanity and drug content. Despite mixed reviews, however, Menace II Society was critically acclaimed for its gritty portrayal of urban violence and its powerful underlying messages.
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©2008 Pushin' The Bay TV / PTBTV, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. All videos filmed & produced by Shaun Tai for ZTY MEDIA. Using our copyrighted video (promotional or otherwise) is illegal without specific, written permission - please email shaun@ztymedia.com.
- published: 22 Jul 2008
- views: 75470