"I get hit by a lot of 20-year-olds on my MySpace."

Kool G Rap & DJ Polo: "Erase Racism"
From: Wanted: Dead Or Alive, [Cold Chillin', 1990]

Kool G Rap & DJ Polo: "Straight Jacket"
From: Live And Let Die, [Cold Chillin', 1992]

Kool G Rap: "For Da Brothaz"
From: 4, 5, 6, [Cold Chillin', 1995]

Questioning Kool G. Rap's future as a rapper is a XXL sidebar that 20-somethings keep alive through rumors that sting G. Rap fanatics, but for the sake of water cooler chit-chat we'll embrace any rap rumor. G. Rap's exclusive HHG Q&A interview is a hilarious reminder that rap's publicity machine is tailored to fit 18-year-olds with part-time jobs. Speaking in third-person is classic G. Rap, but his MySpace reference-"There are a lot of kids who know G. Rap right now who are not 30 years-old. I get hit by a lot of 20 year-olds on my MySpace."-and shrewd positioning are lame. It's a shame that rap lacks consensus over all of its attributes, but if rap topples the whistle and snap, I am sure G. Rap will not have to put on face for young record purchasers.

On my block Maxwell and TDK cassettes (Sony was too damn expensive!) held down the illest raps from 1990 up until the CD-R/ MP3 revolution killed our analog adventure. G. Rap is a piece of my mixtape youth that stuck with me into adulthood. Cold Chillin' Records is before my generation, but the bridge to Cold Chillin' for my youth are G. Rap and Grand Daddy IU.

"Erase Racism" left me dumbfounded, because I could not understand how G. Rap could make a highly positive single after a string of hard lyric based raps he is better known for. G. Rap's rhyme, "I'm no villain so why would I be killing Indians," blew up in my neighborhood. Hearing a rapper drop a rhyme about Native people made us feel not so extinct, but the Cool V and Biz Markie production is what hooked me-it's like afro-centric rap without all the afro.

"Straight Jacket" reminds me of the Geto Boys' ability to market psychotic lyrics as not-so-crazy realities. Trackmasterz produced "Straight Jacket" with a production that is heavily layered to suit G. Rap's insane anthem; "I went to lover's lane/ seen a couple kiss then blew out the brother's brain...A lady picked me up hitchhiking what a big mistake/ several hours later there's a body by the lake."

T-Ray produces my favorite G. Rap single, "For Da Brothaz", which tactfully uses Art Farmer's "Soul Sides" to structure G. Rap's homage to his people. The horns are amazing on this track and during a period of NY productions when horns were manditory, I think these horns steal home plate.

After consideration, I suppose MySpace references are not going to hurt G. Rap's reputation, after all, I added him.