Kool G Rap

"With this album, I try to please everybody,” says the previously Kool Genius of Rap (the "G” now stand for Giancana) of his potential comeback album, The Giancana Story. And he does cover a lot of ground on his long-delayed eighth album. After two years, Kool G Rap took what was to be his Rawkus debut and went on a hunt for a new label. In the meantime, a bootlegged version of what was originally to be called Thug Chronicles started circulating. "I think that if it would have come out at the time it was meant to come out it would have done a lot better,” G Rap admits. Which makes it great that Koch stepped up to give The Giancana Story an official release, although promising collaborations with Snoop Dogg, Nas, Premier and, most interestingly, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe are sadly absent. "It’s a hot track,” says Kool G Rap of "Cold One,” with Stipe and G Rap’s wife, Maw Barker, on the chorus. His work with Premier, on the other hand, was "really a Rawkus thing and that’s why I didn’t really care for the track.” What are left are appearances by Mobb Deep, Capone-N-Noreaga, AZ and others. But, the album’s highlight is the vivid street stories that Kool G Rap has been spitting to wax since 1985, influencing much of the modern breed of thug MC. "If you got an appreciation for the person that started it all, just for that reason alone, go out and cop the album,” says Kool G Rap. Or, perhaps, think about getting the bootlegged Rawkus version along with "It’s Nothing,” the first single and only new track.