''Smoke Some Kill'' is the third album by rapper

Schoolly D Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. (born June 22, 1962), better known by the stage name Schoolly D (sometimes spelled Schooly D), is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Career Schoolly D teamed up with DJ Code Money in the mid-1980s. His ...

. The album was released in 1988 for

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, ...

and was produced by Schoolly D.

Release

Though the album was not as successful as ''

Saturday Night! – The Album ''Saturday Night! – The Album'' is the second studio album by hip hop artist Jesse Weaver under the alias of Schoolly D. The album was recorded at INS Studios in New York where Weaver created an album of seven tracks that included rapping and ...

'', it did manage to make it to #180 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and #50 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop album charts.

"Signifying Rapper"

The song "Signifying Rapper" was based upon the "

signifying monkey The signifying monkey is a character of African-American folklore that derives from the trickster figure of Yoruba mythology, Esu Elegbara. This character was transported with Africans to the Americas under the names of Exu, Echu-Elegua, Papa ...

" character of African-American folklore. A version of this story was performed by

Rudy Ray Moore Rudolph Frank Moore (March 17, 1927October 19, 2008), known as Rudy Ray Moore, was an American comedian, singer, actor, and film producer.Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are c ...

's " Kashmir". The song was featured in the film ''

Bad Lieutenant ''Bad Lieutenant'' is a 1992 American neo-noir crime film directed by Abel Ferrara. The film stars Harvey Keitel as the titular "bad lieutenant" as well as Victor Argo and Paul Calderón. The screenplay was co-written by Ferrara with actress-mod ...

,'' and inspired the title of (and is discussed in) the book '' Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present.'' "Signifying Rapper" was the target of several lawsuits following its use in the 1992 film ''

'', in multiple scenes. In 1994, Live Home Video and distributor Aries Film Releasing were ordered to destroy any unsold copies of ''Bad Lieutenant'' as part of a

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...

ruling.Sandler, Adam (December 14, 1994). Live Must Destroy 'Bad' Vids Sez Judge. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' Director

Abel Ferrara Abel Ferrara (born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker, known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use of neo-noir imagery and gritty urban settings. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best k ...

was angered by the incident, which he felt "ruined the movie":

Critical reception

The album received generally mixed reviews from most music critics. The ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''D ...

'' gave the album a B. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' reviewer Cary Carling panned the album, writing "With its images of gun-toting bluster, mushrooming genitals and rampant drug use – backed by thuddingly dull beats – ''Smoke Some Kill'' should be played for every prospective rapper so he'll know what not to do."

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

reviewer Ron Wynn called the album "more chaotic than creative". In his consumer guide for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

gave the album a B− rating,Christgau, Robert.
Consumer Guide: ''Smoke Some Kill''
. ''

'': December 27, 1988. Archived fro
the original
on 2010-03-13. calling Schoolly D "the white audience's paranoid-to-masochistic fantasy of a B-boy" and commending him for "realizing the fantasy so scarily, and for commanding his own tough-guy sound".

Track listing

#"Smoke Some Kill" – 3:28 #"Here We Go Again" – 2:43 #"Mr.Big Dick" – 4:36 #"Gangster Boogie II" – 3:43 #"This Is It (Ain't Gonna Rain)" – 3:56 #"Another Poem" – 4:20 #"We Don't Rock, We Rap" – 3:17 #"Signifying Rapper" – 4:51 #"No More Rock N' Roll" – 3:52 #"Same White Bitch (Got You Strung Out On Cane)" – 4:19 #"Treacherous" – 4:27 #"Black Man" – 4:19 #"Coqui 900" – 3:30 #"Fat Gold Chain" – 3:01

Personnel

–

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

DJ Code Money DJ Code Money was the deejay for noted 1980s rap artist Schoolly D of Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in b ...

– sampling,

scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to fade between two rec ...

* Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

mix Mix, mixes or mixing may refer to: Persons & places * Mix (surname) ** Tom Mix (1880-1940), American film star * nickname of Mix Diskerud (born Mikkel, 1990), Norwegian-American soccer player * Mix camp, an informal settlement in Namibia * ...

on "Mr. Big Dick", "Gangster Boogie II", "This Is It (Ain't Gonna Rain)", "Another Poem", "Same White Bitch (Got You Strung Out On Cane)", "Treacherous", "Black Man" *Nigel Green – mix on "Smoke Some Kill", "Here We Go Again", "We Don't Rock, We Rap", "Signifying Rapper", "No More Rock N' Roll", "Coqui 900", "Fat Gold Chain" *Andy "Funky Drummer" Kravitz –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

on "Signifying Rapper" and "No More Rock N' Roll" *Mike Tyler –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

on "Signifying Rapper" and "No More Rock N' Roll" *Doug Grigsby –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

on "Signifying Rapper" and "No More Rock N' Roll" *Big Tim – bass on "Another Poem"

References

External links

* Passing mention. {{Authority control 1988 albums Schoolly D albums Jive Records albums Sampling controversies