Road to the Riches is the debut album from hip hop duo Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, released in 1989 on then-prominent rap label Cold Chillin' Records. The album is notable in that it set off the Mafioso Rap trend with the title-cut track; "Road to the Riches" which received strong rotation on the TV show Yo! MTV Raps, and was later featured on the Classic hip hopRadio StationPlayback FM from the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Other popular songs included "It's A Demo" and "Poison". In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums[7]
Album information
Kool G Rap and DJ Polo were flagship members of the legendary Juice Crew, led by producer Marley Marl. The two first premiered on Mr. Magic's Rap Attack radio show on 107.5 in 1986 with their first single "It's A Demo." They spent the next few years releasing singles, and eventually wrote and recorded Road to the Riches in 1988. The album wasn't released until early 1989. The album showcases G Rap's signature multisyllabic rhyme style with lyric topics ranging from Mafioso, materialism, bragadocio, to love. The production was entirely handled by fellow juice Crew member Marley Marl, who provided a more hard-edged style of production than that of his previous work. Road to the Riches is often cited as the beginning of the Mafioso Rap genera, laying the groundwork for future rap stars such as; Scarface, Nas, Raekwon, Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G., and AZ among others. Also, according to the liner notes in The Roots's Phrenology, "Men at Work" was the song that brought the group together during a lunch period at their high school.
The title track features a sample from Billy Joel's album 52nd Street. The track sampled, "Stiletto", precedes the hit track "My Life", and is used as a lead-in for the aforementioned song's music video.
