Living Proof (Lifers Group album)
Living Proof | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1993 | |||
Genre | Rap | |||
Label | Hollywood BASIC[1] | |||
Producer | Solid Productions, Organized Konfusion | |||
Lifers Group chronology | ||||
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Living Proof is an album by the incarcerated rap collective Lifers Group, released in 1993.[2][3] The collective was made up of inmates serving sentences of 25 years to double-life.[4][5] The album followed the collective's 1991 debut EP and their Grammy-nominated long-form video.[6] Royalties from the album were put toward the Lifers Group Juvenile Awareness Program.[7]
Production
[edit]The album was recorded inside East Jersey State Prison, in Rahway, New Jersey. A temporary studio was built in the prison, and the collective had a week to record.[8] Living Proof was produced by Solid Productions, with, on some tracks, Organized Konfusion.[9] The members of the collective were credited by their nicknames and their prison serial numbers.[10] They wrote all of the lyrics and assisted with some of the musical backing.[11] A video was filmed at the prison for the first single, "Short Life of a Gangsta".[12]
Critical reception
[edit]Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chicago Sun-Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
RapReviews | 7.5/10[17] |
Trouser Press wrote that the album "trades intensity for a showcase of Rahway’s considerable lyrical/musical talents ... The problem is not in the message or the sound—as on-point as ever—but in the very anonymity of the performers."[3] The Gazette thought that "Ice-T may have scarier beats, but he can't top this for tragedy or credibility."[18]
The Chicago Sun-Times stated that "in addition to solid musical production and skillful lyrical flow, the Rahway crew rips a few choice rhymes on 'Jack U Back', a dis of gangsta rappers who glorify street life and mislead listeners about its perils."[14] The Miami Herald declared that the album "is a raw and numbing litany of recrimination, stupid choices and ruined lives, made all the more depressing because you know every word is true."[19]
MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide deemed Living Proof "more refined than the first album, but ... still nothing incredibly compelling."[16]
Track listing
[edit]No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "One Life to Live" | |
2. | "Let Me Out (Edit)" | |
3. | "Rise or Fall" | |
4. | "Prison Break 1" | |
5. | "Cuff' Em Up" | |
6. | "Emotional Violence" | |
7. | "Freestyle 1" | |
8. | "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" | |
9. | "Living Proof" | |
10. | "Short Life of a Gangsta" | |
11. | "Prison Break 2" | |
12. | "Prison is the Death of a Poor Man" | |
13. | "Back in the Days" | |
14. | "Jack U Back (So U Wanna Be a Gangsta)" | |
15. | "Short Life of a Gangsta (Organized Konfusion Mix)" |
References
[edit]- ^ Jenkins, Sacha; Wilson, Elliott; Alvarez, Gabe; Rollins, Brent (December 3, 1999). Ego Trip's: Book of Rap Lists. Macmillan. ISBN 9780312242985 – via Google Books.
- ^ Austin, Monette; Pugh, Eric (30 July 1993). "Lifers Get Live". InRoads. Daily Press. p. 11.
- ^ a b "Lifers Group". Trouser Press. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
- ^ Harris, Rosemary (30 July 1993). "Sound Advice". Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph. p. E4.
- ^ Vigoda, Arlene (30 June 1993). "Jailhouse Rap". USA Today. p. 1D.
- ^ Lynch, Colum (25 Feb 1992). "Inmates Take Rap—to the Grammys". Los Angeles Times. p. F6.
- ^ Jaeger, Barbara (July 23, 1993). "Lifers Take Rap to a New Reality". Lifestyle/Previews. The Record. p. 9.
- ^ Mendez, Ivette (August 5, 1993). "Shift of Prison Rapper Steams Youth Activist". News. The Star-Ledger.
- ^ "Album reviews — Living Proof by Lifers Group". Billboard. Vol. 105, no. 31. Jul 31, 1993. p. 47.
- ^ Mangan, John (September 23, 1993). "Real lifers clean rapping message from the pen". Green Guide. The Sunday Age. p. 12.
- ^ Wexler, Annette (16 May 1993). "Teaching the Reality of Life in Prison". The New York Times. p. NJ3.
- ^ Cain, Carol (August 6, 1993). "Maximum security musicians have long RAP sheets". Press-Register. p. E1.
- ^ "Living Proof". AllMusic.
- ^ a b Abdul-Adil, Jaleel (August 22, 1993). "'Living Proof,' Lifers Group". Show. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 5.
- ^ "Lifers Group". Robert Christgau.
- ^ a b MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 352.
- ^ "Lifers Group: Living Proof: Hollywood BASIC". www.rapreviews.com.
- ^ Lepage, Mark (24 July 1993). "Lifers Group Living Proof". The Gazette. p. F2.
- ^ Pitts Jr., Leonard (June 30, 1993). "Lifers Group, Living Proof, Hollywood Basic Records". Miami Herald. p. 1E.