Ice T* – Ya Don't Quit

This was one of Ice T's best records before he signed his major deal with Sire. Released in early 1986 and produced by the legendary Techno Hop records owner Andre Manuel aka The Unknown DJ, this is a typical drum machine monster of its day. The beats that Unknown put together for this record are seriously heavy with some great beat programming throughout. There is a fantastic change of tempo about three quarters of the way in which has a really catchy synth baseline. I have read Ice T refer to the synth line used in the chorus as being a twist on a Looney Toons theme but I can't place it? Ice T himself is in great form definately holding his own for the time, the raps are fast and dope, delivered with real venom giving the track its intensity. Evil E adds some nice cuts and scratches to the mix using the acapella of Beastie Boys 'Hold it now hit it' which had only just come out itself. I loved this record when it was first released and I still listen to it regularly now, one of Ice's best.

To wit: The Retarded Mix on the B side of this 12 inch is actually the acapella version. Unsure as to why it was designated as such.

One of the first 'import' rap 12"'s I owned as a kid. You can tell Evil E was a massive influence on me from my name. Hands up who used to try and copy his cuts off of Falco's 'Rock Me Amadeus'?

Word up , if you haven't heard this cut, YOU MISSIN OUT.eletro breaks hard vocals,even harder beats, EVIL E at his peak(maybe not)he's pretty def on all the albums.A MUST HAVE.

Released right on the cusp of his massive stylistic change, this might be the best record of early Ice T. As he mentioned in later tracks, this was the period when most of the West Coast was aiming for more of a NY style, but also embraced rapid, uptempo electro--Techno Hop and Electrobeat being two of the major CA labels of the time and genre. Ice later rhymed that he was trying to sound like someone else. His more laid-back gangsta style really came about with "6 In The Mornin", issued the same year as this record. But the very street "6 In The Mornin" sounds almost relaxed compared to this track. "Ya Don't Quit" is rapid-fire hard rhymes with a firm grip on the electro sound that dominated both the left coast and the Radio scene in LA that Ice came out of. The sound seems like a cross between Marley Marl on the drum machine and the California electro rap sound. Evil E has a scratching portion, and Ice just raps the hell out of the track, in a breathless lyrical style that he only utilized in rare spots later on in his career. The sparsely programmed style uses very hard drums and a few samples. It's an outstanding document, not only in that it shows how aggressive and varied Ice T could be, but in that it shows a period of time when a West Coast rapper struggled to find a style between East Coast rap, rock beats, electro beats, fast and verbose rapping style, and laid-back crime story/gangsta. As a big Ice T fan, this is unusual to be sure, but just as good as anything on "Original Gangster."

"This beat is crushin', end of discussion.."
"But the squares won't dance 'cause they just all fakes/ they can't understand the command of the breaks!"