Gangsta Rap (Special Edition)

Ice-T had been starring in the TV crime drama Law & Order for six years when Gangsta Rap was released, but this OG of hardcore hip-hop is as cutting as ever with street rhymes, endless disses and censorship-baiting cover art. He reasserts himself in “New Life”, boasting atop a Nina Simone sample about blasting a rival with a pump-action shottie. “Pray” describes a night at the club gone wrong over harrowing boom bap, while “Walking in the Rain” shows that even gangstas need someone to love.