by John Sutherlin
Bow Down is Westside Connection’s 1st album. The group formed in 1995 when Ice Cube, WC and Mack-10 united for the track West Up. The rappers all liked their individual styles and decided to work together which is when they formed Westside Connection. The group members also decided to give each other nicknames. Ice Cube was The Gangsta, Mack-10 was The Dope Dealer and WC was Tha Killa. The group released the album Bow Down in 1996 during the height of the west coast vs east coast beef and was intended to add more flames to the fire. The album was released on Oct 22nd 1996. When it was released it skyrocketed to the 2nd spot on the billboard hot 100 and was certified platinum a year later in 1997. The group would go on to release a 2nd album in 2003 titled Terrorist Threats, however the group disbanded in 2005 when a dispute between Mack-10 and Ice Cube’s brother in law turned into a fight. This led to Mack-10 and Ice Cube having a beef that still is dragging on till today. However Ice Cube and WC have remained friends.
Now let’s get into the ranking. The album has a total of 13 tracks. We will exclude the intro in the beginning and the 2 insert’s in the middle making it only 10 tracks. We will rate every song out of 10 and the album out of 10.
Track 1: “Bow Down.” This is the title track and is a very good one. It was released before the full album as a single. It features all 3 members rapping over an amazing beat. The song is about how all other fellow rappers should bow down wherever any of them go. 9/10.
Track: 2 “Gangstas Make The World Go Around.” This track was okay at best. The beat is a lot more chiller and overall more of a laid-back song. 7/10.
Track 3: “All The Critics In New York.” This song is meant as a direct diss at the whole of New York. The song starts with Ice Cube talking about how Hip-Hop/Rap originated from New York and how much respect the west had for them. But as the west coast started to become bigger many classic New York rappers started to criticize them leading to the west losing respect and this diss track (among many others put out by artists like Tupac and Snoop Dogg). 9/10.
Track 4: “Do You Like Criminals.” Do You Like Criminals uses a way darker and grittyer beat. The song is pretty mid in my opinion, it’s just not the type of rap that I like. 7/10.
Track 5: “The Gangsta, The Killa And The Dope Dealer.” This is probably my favorite track on the list. It uses a more bouncy beat like Bow Down. The song is about the nicknames that all three members inherited. (Ice Cube: Tha Gangsta, WC: Tha Killa And Mack-10: Tha Dope Dealer) 10/10.
Track 6: “Cross ‘Em Out And Put A ‘K.” This song is a decent one. The rappers on this track talk about how many sellouts there are in the rap industry. The ones they call sellouts are the ones that have R&B and Pop artists on their track. 8/10.
Track 7: “King Of The Hill.” This track is a direct diss at Cypress Hill. Cypress Hill was a latino rap group that is considered a 2-time one hit wonder with their songs Insane In The Brain and How Can I Just Kill A Man. The group is exposed for not really being from South Central L.A. by Ice Cube and the rest of the group making for an excellent track. 10/10.
Track 8: “3 Time Felons.” This song returns to the dark gritty beats like Cross Em Out had and the other songs. It talks about how they are down for life with the life they used to live when they were younger. 7/10.
Track 9: “Westward Ho.” This song is about an “irresistible girl” from a place called westward. The song is alright at best but the beat is really good. 7/10.
Track 10: “Hoo-Bangin’” Hoo Bangin is another iconic track from the album. It wasn’t very popular when it first came out. But over time the beat has become very popular on social media for videos where people showcase how to do Ice Cube’s iconic Gangsta 2-Step dance. On top of that it gained momentum in the 2000s when WC would perform his iconic Crip-Walk on stage while this song was being performed. 9/10.
This album was a kinda mixed bag for me. The album had some straight 10/10 amazing tracks but overall there were way too many tracks that were just too mid. Hoo-Bangin, King Of The Hill, The Gangta Tha Killa And The Dope Dealer as well as Bow Down were all amazing tracks. But other tracks like 3 Time Felons and Westward Ho were very mid and are songs I wouldn’t listen to on my own. 7/10.
