GHETTO PROS: THE $500K ALBUM THAT NEVER WAS

I'm sure most of you caught the recent 3 part T-Ray interview over at Unkut where he discusses how the Ghetto Pros LP was supposed to be the first release on his Warner Brothers distributed label until all sorts of drama went down and it never came to be. Someone ended up bootlegging the finished product and ironically I came across it at Amoeba the same day the I read the Unkut post linked above. I had heard of it years ago, but had never come across a copy online or in real life. I gotta say it's definitely a slicker and slighty more mainstream Ghetto Pros sound than you may be used to if you followed V.I.C. and Mike's previous Hydra and Rawkus related productions. It may be the case that the large budget played a big part in ruining that sound. Instead of making the best of what you have available , suddenly it becomes the sky's the limit. Personally I think hip hop sounds best when produced under extreme limitations and that's probably why this is some of my least favorite Ghetto Pros material. Featured MC's are Kurupt, Jo-ell Ortiz, Kool G Rap, The Beatnuts, Nate Dogg, Big L, Brand Nubian, B Real, Dead Prez and Tha Alkaholiks, among others. The only track I've seen officially released elsewhere is the Dead Prez one which T-Ray released as a split 12" with Milano on his Beatdown Recordings label.

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