Kill at Will

Kill at Will
EP by Ice Cube
Released	December 19, 1990
Recorded	1990
Genre	Hip hop political hip hop gangsta rap
Length	21:53
Label	Priority
Producer	Ice Cube Sir Jinx Chilly Chill
Ice Cube chronology
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990) Kill at Will (1990) Death Certificate (1991)

Kill at Will (titled At Will in its censored version) is an extended play by American rapper Ice Cube, released on December 19th, 1990, via Priority Records.[1] It was released soon after AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted and capitalized on Cube's newfound solo success.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Robert Christgau	A−[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[5]
NME	7/10[6]^[better source needed]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
The Source	[8]
The Washington Post	(favorable)[9]

Trouser Press praised "the lighthearted 'Jackin’ for Beats' (which bites EPMD, PE, Digital Underground, LL Cool J and others) and the devastating 'Dead Homiez', in which [Cube] solemnly contemplates the murder of a friend over an evocative mix of horn, guitar and piano."[10]

Robert Christgau stated: "I don't want to claim the criticism is getting to him--still talking tough on this interim EP, he remixes 'Get Off My Dick and Tell Your Bitch To Come Here.' But he's keeping his woman problem to himself and putting the gangsta shit in perspective: 'The Product' tells a young black con's story from his pops's nut, 'Dead Homiez' cops to a sadness a lesser outlaw might consider unmanly. With Sir Jinx running the board, the beats never work up to carpet-bomb density. And if Ice Cube keeps rhyming like this, you won't care."[3]

Track listing

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside) (Remix)" (featuring Chuck D)	Sir Jinx	4:11
2.	"Jackin' for Beats"	Chilly Chill	2:57
3.	"Get off My Dick and Tell Yo Bitch to Come Here (Remix)"	Sir Jinx	3:38
4.	"The Product"	Sir Jinx	3:35
5.	"Dead Homiez"	Ice Cube	3:55
6.	"JD’s Gaffilin’ (Part 2)"		0:36
7.	"I Gotta Say What Up!!!"	Sir Jinx	3:06

Partial list of samples

"Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside) (Remix)" "The Payback" by James Brown "Funky Drummer" by James Brown^[citation needed] "Standin' on the Verge of Gettin' It On" by Funkadelic "Bop Gun (Endangered Species)" by Parliament "Straight Outta Compton (Extended Mix)" by N.W.A "Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy "The Product" "Good Times" by Kool and the Gang "Rated X" by Kool and the Gang "Jungle Boogie" by Kool and the Gang "You Can Make It If You Try" by Sly & the Family Stone "Train Sequence", narrated by Geoffrey Sumner "Funky Drummer" by James Brown "The Nigga Ya Love to Hate" by Ice Cube "Illegal Search" by LL Cool J "I Gotta Say What Up!!!" "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" by Isaac Hayes "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss "Who Stole the Soul?" by Public Enemy "Dead Homiez" "Rollin' wit the Lench Mob" by Ice Cube "Do Like I Do" by Smokey Robinson

"Jackin' for Beats" "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown "The Payback" by James Brown "Funky President" by James Brown "Funky Drummer" by James Brown "I Know You Got Soul" by Bobby Byrd "Hot Pants - I'm Coming, I'm Coming, I'm Coming" by Bobby Byrd "Bop Gun (Endangered Species)" by Parliament "Sing a Simple Song" by Sly & the Family Stone "Big Ole Butt" by LL Cool J "So Wat Cha Sayin'" by EPMD "Heed the Word of the Brother" by X-Clan "They Call Me D-Nice" by D-Nice^[citation needed] "Ashley's Roachclip" by the Soul Searchers "Bon Bon Vie" by T.S. Monk "Tramp" by Lowell Fulsom "Psychedelic Shack" by the Temptations "Hector" by Village Callers "The Big Beat" by Billy Squier "The Haunted House", narrated by Laura Olsher "Welcome to the Terrordome" by Public Enemy "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground "Rebel Without a Pause" by Public Enemy "100 Miles and Runnin" by N.W.A

Later samples

• "Dead Homiez"
  • "Young Black Male" by 2Pac from the album 2Pacalypse Now
• "The Product"
  • "Young Black Male" by 2Pac from the album 2Pacalypse Now

Album singles

"Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)"

• Released: 1990
• B-side: "Dead Homiez"

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1991) Peak position US Billboard 200[11] 34 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[12] 5

Year-end charts Chart (1991) Position US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[13] 38

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[14]	Platinum	1,000,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Kill at Will - Ice Cube | Release Info". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
2. AllMusic review
3. Robert Christgau review
4. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 444.
5. "Entertainment Weekly review". Archived from the original on 2014-05-31. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
6. "NME review". Archived from the original on 2011-06-22. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
7. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 340.
8. The Source review
9. The Washington Post review
10. "Ice Cube". Trouser Press. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
11. "Ice Cube Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
12. "Ice Cube Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
13. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1991". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
14. "American album certifications – Ice Cube – Kill At Will". Recording Industry Association of America.