Westside Connection's recent release Terrorist Threats strives to be a party record with political overtones, or vice versa. The trio comprised of Ice Cube, WC and Mack 10, has a lot more to offer the dance team than the debate team. The complex and varied beats combine with the shoutable lyrics to make the album a strong example of gangsta rap. But with the more politicized rhymes, the trio emphasizes a grievously ill-conceived interpretation of the terrorist attacks on America as just a different sort of acceptable gangsta violence. This sentiment, in addition to getting them kicked out of Toby Keith's weekly poker game, fails to give their simple and infectious lyrics anything to wrap themselves around.
The album's high points come early, as "Call 9-1-1" combines the best of Ice Cube's rapping on the album ("My ebonics is full of gin and tonic / erotic / yeah you got it / hypnotic / plus I got it") with a complex beat comprised of gunshots and violins.
The first two singles coming from "Terrorist Threats" are amongst the best tracks on the album, most notably the Nate Dogg-assisted "Gangsta Nation," which showcases another of Nate Dogg's stick-in-your-head choruses and an eloquently profane defense of the party lifestyle by WC.
"Get Ignit," the second single, emphasizes an actual anti-education, pro-moneymaking stance that, like so much of the album, sounds better over a catchy hook than it would in a policy memo. Its chorus ("To all the booty-shakers / To all the moneymakers / F--k the undertakers / Get ignit") is nearly impossible not to enjoy, but it is also the album's last truly worthwhile moment.
Not surprisingly the album's worst moments come when its strong suit (rap) is abandoned for its weakest element (politically charged invective). The low point is clearly the album's intro, as a ponderous voice-over man describes the trio in hyperbolic terms that make less sense with each listen. (e.g. as the "Masters of Gangsterism, a group of organized street thugs turned businessmen,"). The intro then uses dark, post-9/11 imagery and randomly sprinkled gunshots to create the "everybody's gonna die" feeling best captured in the fifth act of Hamlet.
While its political aspirations fall short, "Terrorist Threat" might have its listeners too busy dancing to notice.
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