As a self-proclaimed cornerstone in the ‘third generation’ of rap (along with Public Enemy and NWA), Tracy Morrow has been thrilling and chilling music punters for almost two decades with his ferocious tales of street life and gang warfare. For reasons that are difficult to fathom, he dropped his christened name and chose instead to go by the infamous handle of Ice T.

The Repossession Live unites Ice T with NY rappers Smoothe and Trigger to form the rap supergroup, SMG (Sex, Money and Gunz) for a one-off gig at BB King’s club in New York City. The club size is modest, as is the stage, but still they manage to squeeze a truckload of people onstage at any one time. Unfortunately, most of these people also carry microphones and aren’t afraid to use them. The end result is a great deal of posturing and many, many rude words. It may even pay the Iceberg to check some of his posse into a clinic to see if any of them have Tourette’s.

The problem with rap concerts (and I’ve been to a few) is that it is sometimes hard to come to terms with the fact that nobody onstage is actually playing a musical instrument (even though Icy Pole's long-time partner in crime, Evil E is more accomplished on those turntables than many rock bands are on their guitars). Unfortunately, this can leave the viewer a little underwhelmed because it doesn’t seem like anybody is doing anything onstage that couldn’t be done in one’s own living-room.

That couldn’t be further from the truth, of course, because the difference between a good and a bad rapper is enormous. For one thing, the rhymes need to be entertaining, tell a reasonable story and should be crisp, concise and not without humour, however dark. Guys like Ice T, Chuck D, Ice Cube and even (dare I say it) Eminem are a cut above the order mainly because their delivery is so on the money. When Ice T takes the stage, and despite the undoubted fineries that the transition from rap to television (Law and Order: SVU) have afforded him, our man Tracy still manages to spit his lyrical venom with the same fury that he did all those years ago.

A lot of the newer material is reasonable, but is a little bit messy in places and suffers from to many crooks… er… cooks. Aside from the between track banter and the merciless humiliation onstage of a hapless punter, the high points of the evening are two medleys of older school cuts that revisit the artist when there was still good reason for conservative America to fear him. New Jack Hustler and O.G. (Original Gangster) carry as much urgency and menace as they ever did and if you were blown away the first time you heard the snarling, Colors then you’ll be happy to know that it still towers as a formidable classic all these years later.

Hardcore rap certainly isn’t everybody’s cup of tea (Iced or otherwise) and it can be as arrogant and as chauvinist as all hell, but The Repossession, although a bit of a challenge at times, still has plenty to offer the hardcore fan. On an even brighter note, if you remember some of this stuff from the first time around, you might enjoy the opportunity to relive the whole phenomenon minus the lurid shell-suits and chunky jewellery.

Tracklisting:

There is little to complain about where the picture is concerned. Presented in 1.78:1, the action for the main feature takes place in a small club and makes full use of its several viewpoints. The colours are sharp and given that there is a lot going on in all parts of the stage and the club itself, attention to detail is high. The stage lighting throughout the gig is fairly static and the players appear against a rich, red backdrop with virtually full stage light, so there is no real problem with shadows or with lighting changes getting lost in the transition to film. Extras are shot on video and vary in quality without ever reaching an excellent standard.

As mentioned earlier, some of the dialogue is a little difficult to understand at times, but I think this is more a performance issue with some of the rappers rather than any real problem with the transfer. The disc comes with both a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack as well as one presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Both are certainly adequate, but the 5.1 soundtrack is probably the more preferable as the stereo version can sound a little too busy. Essentially the extra speakers are used for little more than crowd noise, but this feature still works to good effect. As with the visuals, the audio on the extra footage is of a lesser quality.

The Repossession comes with a reasonable swag of extra features: On Set with Ice T (11:22) – An entertaining behind-the-scenes segment with Ice T on the set of Law and Order: SVU, on which he appears regularly. Ice T explains about his work ethic, the trappings of celebrity and about going into character.
Interviews (17:20) – Loves a chat, does this fella. Ice T and the other members of SMG enlighten us on the creative process.
Miami (14:09) – A montage shot on video featuring the arrival, the lead-up to their concert and promo girls on rollerskates.
Concert (8:50) – Substandard footage of an open-air concert shot in Miami with full SMG crew.
Freestyle Rap (3:10) – Ice and the gang judge and host a freestyle ‘battle’ in Miami.
Afterparty (4:46) – It all ends in debauchery at the Black Gold strip club. Do you need me to say anything more about this?

Given that a full Ice T performance is somewhat scarce on DVD, this disc offers viewers a rare chance to see one of Gangsta Rap’s founding fathers strut his stuff in front of a receptive audience. Some can happily live life without rap music while for others it is as much a lifestyle choice as a musical one. Rest assured though, The Repossession is still obnoxious enough to have mum and dad diving for the stop button.