Recently, Silkk the Shocker atop the list no rapper should want to atop: 50 Worst Rappers of All Time. Though it was a fan’s created list, which it may or not have much credibility, I thought this would be a great time to revisit Silkk’s best album, Charge it 2 da Game. I did this debate a few months back. Check out what I wrote and tell me your thoughts on the album.
1996, Silkk The Shocker burst through our TV screen — literally, on the album cover — on his self-titled debut. There wasn’t much hype surrounding the album, but it was enough to get listeners to start checking for him. By the time TRU, which he was one-third of, released Tru 2 Da Game — and after being featured on Master P’s Ice Cream Man and Ghetto D, among others — the anticipation was built up for his sophomore, Charge It 2 da Game. And that album is the topic of discussion.
[Tune In To HipHop-Album-Debate, “The Podcast” Every Tuesday and Friday!]
Released in 1998, the budget was bigger for Silkk on his second album out. That was visible in the promo video, “Just Be Straight With Me” featuring Master P and Destiny’s Child.
Back then, No Limit was famous for the posse cuts on the intro tracks. And if you were a fan, Silkk didn’t disappoint in “I’m a Soldier,” a remix to TRU’s “No Limit Soldier.” The track featured a bulk of the label’s roster such as Master P, C-Murder, Fiend, Mystikal, Mac, Skull Duggery, Big Ed the Assassin, Lil Gotti, and Mia X.
Silkk used the mafia lifestyle for creative juice in “Give Me the World.”
“F**k that! You came short on my dope,” Silkk spits. “Cut off one of your fingers, send it in the mail. You’ll have my money by twelve, send the other four.”
Perhaps one of the realest songs on the album is “If I Don’t Gotta” featuring Fiend, a cut about the struggle and females hanging around for the lifestyle.
“See, I don’t want to be here, if I don’t gotta,” Fiend spits on the chorus. “My weed habit is so close to snorting powder, got a few b***hes, but it’s all about a dollar, and they don’t holla unless you moving narcota.”
“You Ain’t Gotta Lie to Kick It,” a track about people making false claims to own material items just to fit in, started it’s own catch phrase.
“Thug ‘N’ Me” was a track for the ladies.
The production was handled by inhouse producers, Beats by the Pound.
Charge It 2 da Game peak at the number 3 spot on the US Billboard 200 and number 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album was certified Platinum.
In “Throw Yo Hood Up,” Silkk raps “I probably won’t get five mics, cuz I curse this much, but they don’t understand, that’s why I’m worth this much.” I can’t recalled if Silkk got 5 mics or not. He probably didn’t because I don’t think New York-based publications understood Southern music the way Southerners and Midwesterners did at the time. That’s okay. We didn’t get offended, we just charged it to the game.
Silkk the Shocker’s ‘Charge it 2 da Game’; Classic!, Dope, Regular, or Garbage?
[Polls Are Closed!]
Dope – 50%
Classic! – 33%
Regular – 17%
Garbage – 0%