G. Dep - In New York City (on the corner of 112 St. and Lexington Ave.) is Johnson Projects... right in the heart of East Harlem. To outsiders it's the ghetto but, to many, it's home. For Bad Boy's newest sensation it's been his stomping ground since way before the videos, women, and cars. If you don't believe me ask anybody on the block. They'll tell you he's just a regular cat. Signed to Bad Boy in 1999 he's been laying in the cut, writing for Puff, as well as appearing on Bad Boy releases... before getting his time to shine. His debut "Child Of The Ghetto" is here now, and it's all about S.C.A.M (Sex, Cars, and Money).
G.Dep's flow is a little bit awkward from the contemporary styles. But it's still effective (similar to Ghost Face Killa) where it seems as if he 's all over the place but he comes back on track. Production was handled by Yogi (CRU), EZ ELPEE, Coptic, Sean Cane (A&R at Loud) & Knobody, P.Diddy, Punch, and Mario Winans. They collectively give Dep a gritty background to spit real life stories over. Now that we are all tired of doing the Harlem Shake to his first two party singles ("Let's Get It" and "Special Delivery") let's get into more of the grimy tracks... songs like the autobiographical "Child Of The Ghetto", the blunt "F**ck On The First Night", and the collabo"I Am" (which is straight gutter) with two of Hip-Hop's greatest rappers (Kool G- Rap and Rakim). "Everday" deals with the struggles of everyday life in the hood. And speaking of the hood...
Fellow Spanish Harlem native BR shows up on the catchy "One Way", where they let you know that one way or another they gonna' find you and get you, get you , get you. The block will never be the same. Yeah the fiends will still cop, the police will still harass the brothers on the corner with packs in their socks... but that's everday. It's not every day where someone from the hood makes it big... and G.Dep has done that. He's done it for the block; He's done it for every child in the ghetto who has a dream. (By Ray Lynch)
