There really are few words to describe the impact this album had in the history of hip-hop. You just have to listen to it yourself. But first, flash back to 1988, when just about the ruffest rhymes around were from Ice T's contemporaries Public Enemy and KRS-One, but in a much different vein. Whereas PE and BDP were the hip-hop movement's conscience and mind in 1988, Ice T was the muscle flexing... "cruising in his 500 Benz sedan with his system peaked out rockin 'Pusherman'..." indeed. He blew up hip-hop and pieced together the remains. Everything else that followed was following his lead.

It's kind of interesting to hear "Girls LGBNAF" and realize just how much of a biter Will Smith / Fresh Prince was, spoonfeeding whiteboy America with watered-down Ice T rhymes. NWA could trace their entire catalog to "Grand Larceny", complete with samples of various cop shows and narration that were far ahead of its time. The breakneck speed of the beat in the title cut "Power" almost pre-dates techno-rap ten years earlier. You get the explosive "I'm Your Pusher" and "High Rollers", two songs that gave birth to the west-coast sound. I will never forget the first time I ever heard "Soul On Ice", because there simply had never been anything like it before. And all throughout the album, of course, is Ice's sense of humor, cutting through a message so serious and desperate that you can't help but listen. And listen good.

If your hip-hop collection does not include this album, it's incomplete. Quite simply, this album was almost a decade ahead of its time, musically (thanks to the totally underrated DJ Afrika Islam) and lyrically (I swear Ice uses about eight personas and different voices in his delivery).

And if you need any more reason to get this classic, then "look at the girl on the cover, homeboy."

Power is Classic Ice-T at it's best. The rhymes and beats may seem simplistic to some, but let's take it in context people. This was released in 1988. In those days gangsta rap was in it's infancy still. This is definitely an example of the best from that period. This album won't appeal to hardcore fans I suspect, but will for true Ice-T fans. Turn on, tune in and enjoy.

There aren't many people that haven't heard the name Ice-T, but to me it means lyrical genius. The raps on any Ice-T album are intelligent with topics that are like lessons. The nice thing about his songs is that you can listen to it anyway you like, either from a criminal's perspective or from a teacher teaching others what it's like in the street or on living a life of crime.
There is no such thing as a crap Ice-T album, if he's on it, it's hot, or should I say cold.
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For me Ice-T is one of the best rappers ever and I've spent long hours listening to his hardcore gangster rap. Kind of odd for a middle-aged white guy but what can I say? His in your face, pro-freedom of speech attitude is one that I hold myself. He is one of the founding fathers of gangster rap and one of it's most innovative lyricists. I've seen Ice-T do his rap act only once but have seen him with his band Body Count four times and he puts on a tremendous show.

Power is worth the cost of the CD just for the front and BACK cover alone!! This is one of my favorite rap albums. As always Ice drops clever lyrics and in Power mixes ups the beats and pace to keep the entire album entertaining. You won't be hit the skip button to miss songs on this album.

Power gets an impressive four stars:

Drama *
I'm Your Pusher *
Personal *
High Rollers *

Girls LGBNAF just misses being a star.
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Ratings: CDs are rated simply by how many good songs are on the album. Great songs get two stars, and good songs get one star. Songs that get no stars are those that I might like but not enough to give it a star or ones I find boring or actively dislike. CDs are not penalized for songs that I don't like because they are easy enough to skip over. There is no maximum number of stars a CD can get, but of course the more stars it gets, the better the CD.

As with all reviews, these are my subjective opinions on the album.

Power had some of the illest rap material that came out of the yr 88'. Ice had the message, one of the BEST album covers, and the swagger, a swagger that's still being used to this day by headz such as Snoop, Jigga, and many others. Ice T's Power took the listener for field trip through reality. His Lyrics were str8 to the point, His tracks were very soulful as most tracks were during that era. I rate Ice T's Power one of the best Rap records of all time. If you want to hear the real gritty tales about the High Roller grab Ice T's Power. It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. If so, Then take a gander @ Ice's Album cover! 1000 words well said.