Comin' Through

Before Ice T was content playing streetwise cops on second rate TV shows he was a gangsta rap entrepeneur and pioneer. In 1988 he sought to uplift the careers of some of his favorite young MCs with this compilation Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through. Sure this stuff is pretty dated but this has to be my favorite era for hip hop, the late '80s. Ice T himself kicks off the party with the Rhyme Syndicate theme song and comp title track, "Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through." What follows is a number of young acts looking to make a mark, but the rhymes are varying in quality from awesome (Domination's "You Haven't Heard Nothin') to good (Low Profile's "Think You Can Hang") on down to forgettable ("Syndication" by a pre-House Of Pain Everlast) and bad (Bango's "Ghettosih.") Still, Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through is an excellent chronicle of a specific scene, and ultimately that is what a good comp should do. I have to give mad props to the amazing Back 2 Da OG/Don't Bite Tha Phunk/One Eight Seven blog for bringing this back into my hopelessly caucasian life some twenty years later, thanks for not being all whack and shit. 

Here