Bow Down

by Westside Connection

Overview

Following Lethal Injection, Ice Cube's career began to sag slightly, both in terms of sales and critical respect. As a response, he formed Westside Connection with fellow West Coast gangsta rappers Mack 10 and WC -- the first hip-hop supergroup ever formed. Bow Down, the trio's debut, is everything you would expect from this pedigree, for better and for worse. Musically, the record is fantastic, with tight, slamming production that alternates between driving hardcore rhythms and elastic booty-funk. Similarly, all three rappers give brilliant performances, rhyming with fierce venom and grace. The problem is, the trio -- who have all demonstrated exceptional observational skills and social commentary in the past -- have decided to abandon their conscious for a spirited defense and celebration of gangsta rap. If anyone has represented the best gangsta has had to offer, it would be Ice Cube, Mack 10, and WC, but none of their lyrics here illustrate this; instead, they simply make half-hearted excuses for the violence and no political attacks at authority, which renders it nearly devoid of content. Nevertheless, Bow Down is filled with so much exceptional music that it ranks as one of the finest latter-day gangsta rap records. Listening to it, however, it's hard not to believe that it is an epitaph for the genre. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	10/22/1996
Label:	Priority Records
UPC:	0049925058321
Rank:	28373

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Westside Connection   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

All frum Tha I   Composer
Ryan "Binky" Garner   Composer
Michael Miller   Photography
Art Sho-G   Design,Art Direction
Cedric Gradus-Samson   Composer
Steven A. Wills   Illustrations
WC and the Maad Circle   Composer
O'Shea Jackson   Composer
William Calhoun, Jr.   Composer
Trent Reznor   Composer
The Comrads   Composer
Binky Mack   Composer
Ice Cube   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Binky   Composer,Producer
Mack 10   Composer,Group Member
WC   Composer,Group Member
K-Dee   Composer
Bud'da   Composer,Producer
Manuel J. Donayre   Design,Art Direction
Thom Bell   Composer
Cedric Samson   Composer,Producer
Fernando Perdigao   Programming
Westside Connection   Composer
QD III   Composer,Producer
Linda Epstein   Composer
D'Mon Dedrick Rolison   Composer
Stephen Anderson   Composer
Keston Wright   Engineer