Spice 1 is debut album by American rapper Spice 1

Spice 1

Robert L. Green, Jr., better known by his stage name Spice 1, is an American rapper from Hayward, California. He has consistently been releasing solo and group albums since 1992. Spice 1 was ranked number 56 in The Source magazine's Top 115 Hip-Hop Artists from 1988–2003...

, released May 12, 1992 on Jive Records

Jive Records

Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...

. The album was produced by Ant Banks

Ant Banks

Anthony Banks, known simply as Ant Banks, is a producer and rapper from Oakland, California.-Biography:As a child he took part in a band at school and from there learned to play a variety of instruments along the way. At school he only learned Classical, but at home he taught himself to play Funk...

, Blackjack, E-A-Ski & CMT

E-A-Ski

Shon Adams, better known by his stage name E-A-Ski, is an American rapper and producer from Oakland, California. In the early 1990s he was signed to Master P's No Limit Records, when it was based in Richmond, California. He served as both a rapper and producer for the label, producing on Master...

 and Spice 1. It peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...

 and at number 82 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...

. One single, "Welcome to the Ghetto", peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 and at number 5 on the Billboard Rap Songs.

Along with singles, music videos

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 were produced for four songs, including: "In My Neighborhood", "Welcome to the Ghetto", "187 Proof" and "East Bay Gangsta". Richie Rich

Richie Rich (rapper)

Richard Serrell, better known by his stage name Richie Rich, is a rapper from Oakland, California.He is currently signed to Mack 10's Hoo-Bangin' Records.-Early years :His rapping style is an influence on Snoop Dogg. In Snoop's own words...

 makes a cameo appearance

Cameo appearance

A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

 in "Welcome to the Ghetto". "East Bay Gangsta" and "Welcome to the Ghetto" were B-sides on the other singles. The album was included in the Source Magazine's 100 greatest hip hop albums.

Critical reception

Allmusic - "...His style, an appropriate mix of irony, disdain, acceptance and confusion, never succumbs to the situation or seeks to justify or downplay the sense of impending doom."

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

(7/24/92, p.60) - "...Spice 1's lyrics are clever enough to make you forget you've heard it all before...his tales unfold with the drama of short stories..."

iTunes Store

ITunes Store

The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...

 - "...with a large serving of gunplay and ghetto storytelling. Spice's unique vocal style showcased an uncanny ability to twist and contort his flow...the bass-heavy beats still knock with authority, ideal for bumping in the scraper..."

Track listing

1. "In My Neighborhood"
2. "187 Proof"
3. "East Bay Gangster (Reggae)"
4. "Money Gone"
5. "1-800-Spice"
6. "Peace to My Nine"
7. "Young Nigga"
8. "Welcome to the Ghetto"
9. "Fucked in the Game"
10. "Money or Murder"
11. "City Streets"
12. "1-900-Spice"
13. "Break Yourself" (featuring MC Ant)
14. "187 Pure"

All songs wrote and produced by spice 1

Chart history

Album

Chart (1992)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...	14
U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...	82

Singles

Song	Chart (1992)	Peak position
"Welcome to the Ghetto"	U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	39
	U.S. Billboard Rap Songs	5

External links

• [ Spice 1] at Allmusic
• Spice 1 at Discogs
  Discogs
  Discogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
  
  
• Spice 1 at MusicBrainz
  MusicBrainz
  MusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open content music database. Similar to the freedb project, it was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB...
  
  
• Spice 1 at Tower Records
  Tower Records
  Tower Records was a retail music chain that was based in Sacramento, California. It currently exists as an international franchise and an online music store....