Idolator
Above The Law was one of the earliest signees to Eazy-E's Ruthless Records, and its second full-length, Black Mafia Life, is quintessential post-Chronic West Coast rap: It has gleefully misogynstic (and, like N.W.A., darkly cartoonish) lyrics incorporate copious references to pimping, drugs, murder, and money; sinuous synth lines; and nary a second independent of a '70s/early-'80s funk sample. DJ Total K-Oss makes sure to incorporate more than enough Parliament/Funkadelic influences (matching Cold 187-Um's Bootsy timbre), starting with the album's first track, "Never Missin' a Beat." The song is a two-parter, opening with a looped quote from Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow before giving way to the "Atomic Dog"-biting first cousin of Snoop Dogg's "Who Am I (What's My Name)". Later, "G's and Macaronies" lifts the important parts of T.S. Monk's "Bon Bon Vie" in service of BML's most infectious track:
Above the Law - Never Missin' A Beat [MP3, link expired]
Above the Law - Gs and Macaronies [MP3, link expired]
Comments
This is one the more underated West Coast acts from that era, overshadowed by N.W.A. and any and everything Dr. Dre was involved with. The follow up to BML, Uncle Sam's Curse, is an absolute classic as well as the album Legends, which both showed a more intense, darker and funkier side of west coast rap. I still break them out occasionally.
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