The Only Solution

Last updated
The Only Solution
Cold 187um Psychopathic Assassin.jpg
Studio album by
Cold 187um
ReleasedOctober 22, 2012 (2012-10-22)
Genre Gangsta rap, Mafioso rap, hardcore hip hop
Label Psychopathic
Cold 187um chronology
Only God Can Judge Me
(2011)		The Only Solution
(2012)		The Big Hit
(2014)

The Only Solution is the fifth album by Cold 187um and his first and only album for Psychopathic Records. Released on October 22, 2012, it is a concept album, focusing on the story of a hired killer, the "Psychopathic Assassin", as he performs his job and pursues revenge against his uncle, Black Swan, who had murdered the Assassin's father.

Gregory Fernan Hutchison, better known by his stage names Big Hutch and Cold 187 um, is a rapper and producer, and the lead act of the rap group Above the Law. He currently records for his self-founded label.

Psychopathic Records, also known as The Hatchet, is an American independent record label based in Farmington Hills, Michigan that specializes in hip hop music. The label was founded in 1991 by Alex Abbiss and hip hop group Insane Clown Posse. The iconography of a man with a meat cleaver has been used for years as a symbol of the group, its fanbase, and its associates.

Concept album album with a theme

A concept album is an album in which its tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Sometimes the term is applied to albums considered to be of "uniform excellence" rather than an LP with an explicit musical or lyrical motif. There is no consensus among music critics as to the specific criteria for what a "concept album" is.

Contents

Background

In 2009, Cold 187um was invited to perform at the Gathering of the Juggalos, but because of his mother's cancer, he declined the offer. [1] However, he later agreed to develop a project with Insane Clown Posse's Violent J. After releasing Only God Can Judge Me on another label, Violent J proposed that Psychopathic Records release their project, and Cold 187um agreed to tour with Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid to promote the project. [1]

Gathering of the Juggalos Annual festival in the USA

The Gathering of the Juggalos is an annual festival put on by Psychopathic Records, featuring performances by the entire label roster as well as numerous well-known musical groups and underground artists. It was founded by Jumpsteady, Insane Clown Posse, and their label in 2000. Described by Joseph Bruce as a "Juggalo Woodstock", the Gathering of the Juggalos spans five days and includes concerts, wrestling, games, contests, autograph sessions, karaoke, and seminars with artists. Over its first eleven events, the festival has drawn a total attendance of about 107,500 fans.

Insane Clown Posse American hip hop musical group

Insane Clown Posse, often abbreviated as ICP, is an American hip hop duo composed of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Founded in Detroit in 1989, Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore and is known for its elaborate live performances. The duo has earned two platinum and five gold albums. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the entire catalog of the group has sold 6.5 million units in the United States and Canada as of April 2007. The group has established a dedicated following called Juggalos numbering in the "tens of thousands".

Violent J American rapper

Joseph Francis Bruce, known by his stage name Violent J, is an American rapper, record producer, professional wrestler, and part of the hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse. He is co-founder of the record label Psychopathic Records, with fellow ICP rapper Shaggy 2 Dope and their former manager, Alex Abbiss. Also along with Utsler, Bruce is the co-founder of the professional wrestling promotion Juggalo Championship Wrestling.

Psychopathic wanted to develop an album that would combine the talents of Cold 187um and Psychopathic in a way that would appeal to Juggalos, the label's fanbase, and establish the rapper to their audience, as he was well known for his efforts in gangsta rap, but not previously established to Juggalos. [2]

Juggalo

A juggalo is a fan of the group Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic Records hip hop group. Juggalos have developed their own idioms, slang, and characteristics. The Gathering of the Juggalos, alternatively known as just "The Gathering", is a notable annual festival held by juggalos and the artists that they support, which have included rap stars such as Busta Rhymes, Ice Cube, and MC Hammer; over its first eleven events, the festival had an average attendance of about 10,000 fans, with a peak of 20,000 in 2010.

Gangsta rap or gangster rap is a style of hip hop characterized by themes and lyrics that generally emphasize the "gangsta", "O.G" and "Thug-Life" lifestyle. The genre evolved from hardcore rap into a distinct form, pioneered in the mid-1980s by rappers such as Ice-T and popularized in the later part of the 1980s by rap groups like N.W.A. After the national attention that Ice-T and N.W.A attracted in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gangsta rap, while initially a highly underground and alternative form of hip hop, soon became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop. Many gangsta rap artists openly boast of their associations with various active street gangs as part of their artistic image, with the Crips and Bloods being the most commonly represented.

Additionally, Cold 187um felt that in order to sign with Psychopathic, he had to create material that would be different from what he produced for his own label, West World Records. [1] During the tour, Cold 187um and Violent J created the character of a hired killer, and developed the concept of the album as a long-form story. [1] After the tour, it was officially announced that Cold 187um had signed with Psychopathic. [2]

Concept and storyline

The Only Solution is a concept album which tells the story of an assassin as he develops from a young boy into a hired killer, [3] the "Psychopathic Assassin", who is hired by "The Company" whenever someone "needs to be taken care of". [4] It is prepackaged with a comic book that corresponds with the album's story. [3] [4] Within the storyline, the album's character is identified as "Cold 187um" [5] and "Hutch". [6]

Comic book Publication of comics art

A comic book or comicbook, also called comic magazine or simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually, dialog contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form. Although comics has some origins in 18th century Japan, comic books were first popularized in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 1930s. The first modern comic book, Famous Funnies, was released in the U.S. in 1933 and was a reprinting of earlier newspaper humor comic strips, which had established many of the story-telling devices used in comics. The term comic book derives from American comic books once being a compilation of comic strips of a humorous tone; however, this practice was replaced by featuring stories of all genres, usually not humorous in tone.

The story begins with Hutch being brought into the business by his father and uncle, who brought Hutch along during "hits" because the targets are more vulnerable when a child is present. [7] Hutch commits his first assassination at the age of 10. [7] [8] At the height of their success, Hutch's uncle, Black Swan, murders his brother out of greed, and Hutch swears to avenge his father by seeking revenge against Black Swan. [7] [8]

The rest of the album's storyline focuses on Cold 187um in the present day as he performs assassinations of several people, including Father Duckets, a greedy, corrupt preacher, [9] Willie Brosco, who stole money from Cold 187um's employers, [5] Larry Longhorn, a corrupt judge who proclaims excessive sentences to the plaintiffs that face him, [10] three despicable criminal brothers, [11] and the corrupt Senator Jones, [12] as well as pursuing Black Swan and seeking revenge for his father. [13] [14] The album's storyline concludes with the Psychopathic Assassin's son stating that he is happy as long he is alive and free, [15] [16] a sharp contrast from the Assassin's view that the world is "dangerous" and "full of snakes". [15]

Production

While developing the album, Cold 187um hand selected instrumentals from 12 previously released songs by Psychopathic artists, including Dark Lotus, Anybody Killa, Twiztid, Blaze Ya Dead Homie and Insane Clown Posse, on the basis of which instrumentals would be appropriate for story-based songs which would form an album-length storyline. [1] Official promotional materials termed the album a "deluxe mixtape" on the basis of this production style. [4] The album's storyline was developed by Violent J, and Cold 187um wrote all of the lyrics based on this story. [1] [3] [4]

Release and promotion

A panflet included with Insane Clown Posse's album The Mighty Death Pop! listed the release date of The Only Solution as October 9, 2012. However, the album was pushed back to October 22 to coincide with the release of Twiztid's album Abominationz . [3]

Psychopathic's YouTube channel released a series of videos entitled "In the Mind of an Assassin", as well as a music video featuring Cold 187um rapping over the beat from ICP's cover of the Geto Boys' "Assassins", to promote the release of The Only Solution. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] The videos depicted Cold 187um in character as the "Psychopathic Assassin", preparing and performing staged assassinations.

On October 17, the single "An Offer He Can't Refuse", and a series of samples from the album were released. [22] [23] Customers who ordered The Only Solution and Twiztid's Abominationz within two weeks of the albums' release date received an exclusive CD containing audio of Psychopathic's "Psyphers". [24]

On November 28, Psychopathic Records released the first music video from the album, "An Offer He Can't Refuse". [25] Cold 187um will tour in promotion of the album. [26]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [27]
The Daily BLAM!Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [28]
Faygoluvers.netStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [29]
Juggalo News(favorable) [30]

The Only Solution debuted at #113 on the Billboard Hot 200 Charts, #19 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, #6 on Heatseekers Albums, #32 on Independent Albums and #17 on Rap Albums. [31]

Allmusic gave the album three out of five stars. Reviewer David Jeffries wrote, "while this concept goes big time in a Tarantino style with characters and locations providing an Iliad-sized journey, some of the tracks get too tripped up in narrative to be considered pure." [27]

Cold 187um's association with Insane Clown Posse was criticized by both fans of West Coast hip hop and Juggalos. [32] Cold 187um responded to the criticism, stating "The Only Solution project was an innovative good idea between myself and Violent J, but everyone is so damn opinionated these days and not going with the idea of the artist’s creativity, the project was harder than it needed to be. We are all independent, we are all against mainstream music, we all should have been one not separate. That goes for both Juggalos and my West Coast Hip Hop fans. We might come from different places but we are all on the same side, fighting the same fight. It’s like anything else in life, if there is no unity the real enemy will always win. End of story." [32]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Cold 187um.

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Born 2 Kill""Follow The Leader" by Dark Lotus 4:51
2."Job Well Done""Nervous" by Anybody Killa 3:46
3."Layn' Low""So High" by Twiztid 4:49
4."An Offer He Can’t Refuse""Murder, Murder, Murder" by Twiztid4:04
5."Swan Song""Ka-Boom!" by Dark Lotus4:27
6."Judgement Day""Deadman Walking" by Blaze Ya Dead Homie 3:44
7."L.A.""Suicide Hotline" by Insane Clown Posse 4:04
8."3 Brothers""Chicken Huntin' (Slaughterhouse Mix)" by Insane Clown Posse4:03
9."Swan Sighting""Damn Bitch" by Blaze Ya Dead Homie4:19
10."Capitol Hill""Marsh Lagoon" by Twiztid4:11
11."Interrogation""Truth Dare" by Insane Clown Posse2:39
12."Alive & Free""Last Chance" by Anybody Killa4:16

Personnel

"Born 2 Kill"

"Job Well Done"

"Laying Low"

"An Offer He Can't Refuse"

"Swan Song"

"Judgement Day"

"L.A."

"3 Brothers"

"Swan Sighting"

"Capitol Hill"

"Interrogation"

"Alive & Free"

Chart history

Chart (2012)Peak
position
scope="row"US Billboard 200 [33] 133
scope="row"US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [34] 19
scope="row"US Top Rap Albums (Billboard) [35] 17
scope="row"US Independent Albums (Billboard) [36] 32
scope="row"US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [37] 6

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Cold 187um Interview". Juggalonews.com. 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  2. 1 2 "City Slang: Psychopathic prepare to unleash Cold 187um | Metro Times Blogs". Blogs.metrotimes.com. 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Like (2012-03-17). "Big Hutch Interview - 3/9/12 on Vimeo". Vimeo.com. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "CD & Vinyl New Releases: October 2 & October 9, 2012" (PDF). INgrooves Fontana. p. 17.
  5. 1 2 "An Offer He Can't Refuse", The Only Solution.
  6. ↑ "Interrogation", The Only Solution.
  7. 1 2 3 "Born 2 Kill", The Only Solution.
  8. 1 2 The Only Solution comic book, pages 1-3.
  9. ↑ "Job Well Done", The Only Solution.
  10. ↑ "Judgement Day", The Only Solution
  11. ↑ "3 Brothers", The Only Solution
  12. ↑ "Capitol Hill", The Only Solution
  13. ↑ "Swan Song", The Only Solution
  14. ↑ "Swan Sighting", The Only Solution
  15. 1 2 The Only Solution comic book, pages 36-37.
  16. ↑ "Alive & Free", The Only Solution
  17. ↑ "Cold 187 - The Psychopathic Assassin". YouTube. 2011-12-22. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
  18. ↑ "Cold 187um - In the Mind of an Assassin (Part 1)". YouTube. 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  19. ↑ "Cold 187um - In the mind of an Assassin (Part 2)". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  20. ↑ "Cold 187um - In the Mind of an Assassin (Part 3)". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  21. ↑ "Cold 187um - In The Mind Of An Assassin (Part 4)". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  22. ↑ "New Cold 187um single: "Offer He Can't Refuse"!". Faygoluvers. 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  23. ↑ "Cold 187um "The Only Solution" 1 minute snippets". Faygoluvers. 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  24. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20121013232230/http://www.insaneclownposse.com/icp2010/?p=4773. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved October 22, 2012.Missing or empty |title= (help)
  25. ↑ "Cold 187um - An Offer He Can't Refuse". YouTube. 2012-11-28. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  26. ↑ Paine, Jake (2012-10-16). "Big Hutch "The Only Solution" Tracklist & Tour Dates | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  27. 1 2 Jeffries, David (August 15, 2012). "The Only Solution review". AllMusic. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  28. ↑ "Music Review: COLD 187um – The Only Solution". The Daily BLAM!. 2012-12-10. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  29. ↑ "Cold 187um – "The Only Solution"". Faygoluvers. 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  30. ↑ "Cold 187um "The Only Solution" Album Review". Juggalonews.com. 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  31. ↑ "The Only Solution". Billboard. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  32. 1 2 Paine, Jake (2013-01-23). "Big Hutch Announces "Live From Hell's Kitchen" Album, Reacts To Criticism Of Insane Clown Posse Association". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  33. ↑ "Cold 187um Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  34. ↑ "Cold 187um Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard.
  35. ↑ "Cold 187um Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard.
  36. ↑ "Cold 187um Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  37. ↑ "Cold 187um Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard.
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