Kill at Will

Kill at Will
EP by Ice Cube
Released December 18, 1990[1]
Recorded 1990
Genre Hip hop
Length 20:38
Label Priority
Producer Ice Cube, Sir Jinx, Chilly Chill
Ice Cube chronology
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
(1990)		 Kill at Will
(1990)		 Death Certificate
(1991)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Robert ChristgauA−[3]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[4]
NME(7/10)[5]
The Source[6]
The Washington Post(favorable)[7]

Kill at Will (also known as At Will in its censored version) is the debut EP released by Ice Cube on December 18, 1990[1] under Priority Records.[8] It was released soon after AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted and capitalized off Cube's newfound solo success.

Overview

Kill at Will contains two of Ice Cube's most famous tracks, the rambunctious "Jackin' for Beats", and the soulful ode "Dead Homiez". "Dead Homiez" was Cube's second solo single/music video. The song deals with the violence, death, and social problems of the inner city neighborhoods and is essentially a dedication to all those killed through urban violence. The song was praised later on by countless rap artists and critics, and is one of the first hip hop songs to deal with the pain and loss suffered specifically by the families of black men lost to black on black violence.

"Jackin' for Beats", likewise, began the popular trend of an MC rapping over the various instrumentals of popular beats, which rotate during the course of one song. The song and its sentiment is an excellent example of plunderphonics. The EP was remastered and added to the reissue of the AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted album in 2003.

Track listing

No. TitleProducer(s) Length
1. "Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside) (Remix)" (featuring Chuck D)Sir Jinx 4:11
2. "Jackin' for Beats"  Chilly Chill 2:57
3. "Get off My Dick and Tell Yo Bitch to Come Here (Remix)"  Sir Jinx 3:38
4. "The Product"  Sir Jinx 3:35
5. "Dead Homiez"  Ice Cube 3:55
6. "JD’s Gaffilin’ (Part 2)"    0:36
7. "I Gotta Say What Up!!!"  Sir Jinx 3:06

Partial list of samples

"Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside) (Remix)"

"The Product"

  • "Good Times" by Kool & the Gang
  • "Rated X" by Kool & the Gang
  • "Jungle Boogie" by Kool & the Gang
  • "You Can Make It if You Try" by Sly & the Family Stone
  • "Train Sequence", narrated by Geoffrey Sumner
  • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
  • "The Nigga Ya Love to Hate" by Ice Cube
  • "Illegal Search" by LL Cool J

"I Gotta Say What Up!!!"

  • "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" by Isaac Hayes
  • "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss
  • "Who Stole the Soul?" by Public Enemy

"Dead Homiez"

"Jackin' for Beats"

Album singles

"Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)"

Charts

Chart (1991) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 34
US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums[9] 5

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[10] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Later samples

References

  1. 1 2 http://web.archive.org/web/20071015041915/http://hiphop.sh/cube?page=0%2C1
  2. ↑ Allmusic review
  3. ↑ Robert Christgau review
  4. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
  5. ↑ NME review
  6. ↑ The Source review
  7. ↑ The Washington Post review
  8. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20071015041915/http://hiphop.sh/cube?page=0%2C1
  9. ↑ "Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums - February 23, 1991". Billboard.
  10. ↑ "American album certifications – Ice Cube – Kill At Will". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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