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Silkk the Shocker (or, as he is credited here, simply as Silkk) is by no means an artistically important MC within a nearly three decade old rap game. What may, however, be important about him and most of his No Limit peers is how they have managed to mold the game based purely on a business standpoint since the mid-'90s when they first gained some national exposure.

During rap's golden age, it was lyrics over beats and skills over "swag." Once No Limit Records first graced the airwaves nearly 12 years ago with their gully, spare, dollar-for-a-drug-reference rhymes and beats, the game had suddenly shifted away from that; seemingly overnight even. Master P and his No Limit army were not the best rappers or entertainers, and as mic technicians, they left quite a bit to be desired. But every single one of their albums was, in fact, exec. produced by P, overseen by P, and probably guested P as well. And as a lot of rap heads know, P. Miller is known more for his flamboyant approach to business and sales than for his rapping abilities. But this approach moved units.

And even with all of this going on, No Limit maintained anything from a cult fan base to a massive one that spanned almost a half a decade. They were untouchable for some time and with good reason. P found a very large opening in the rap market and, with a formulaic approach to music-making, slowly began to fill it. Armed with then-unknown dirty south production crew Beats by the Pound (now known as The Medicine Men), a plethora of expendable "soldiers," and a hard-edged sound that was as gratuitously gangster as it came, P and company's albums were always highly sought out. Don't let that confuse you, though, these guys are strictly product. But there is such a thing as good product and bad product in the music world.

Silkk the Shocker's debut record, "The Shocker," was recorded under the moniker "Silkk" ("the Shocker" later added to his stage name due to an alleged lawsuit by R&B group Silk; apparently they had the name first and the extra "K" wasn't fooling anyone). Even so, this album is 100% Silkk, from the unadulterated sex ("No Limit Party" and "Ain't Nothing") and relentless violence (the dark "The Shocker" and funky "If My 9 Could Talk") to the sobering reminiscing of homies deceased and days gone by ("Why My Hommie" and "Ghetto Tears," respectively).

In actuality, his classic follow-up record "Charge It 2 da Game" is almost the PERFECT follow-up record. Although his flow and lyrics are better here, and the production is on another level entirely (check out the low-level grooves of "My Car" as reference to that), the two albums are almost interchangeable in terms of construction and themes. "Charge It's" follow-up, "Made Man," is much less spectacular and, due to the time of its release, more rote No Limit fair.

And even when the album takes a turn into non-musical, on-album advertising ("Commercial One"), it almost approaches self-parody... at least looking back on it it does. It seems P knew, even in 1996, how he was going to assemble/run his empire. And even as pure product that covers every single drug slangin'/gun clappin' rap niche, "The Shocker" does it better than a lot of other albums it steals ideas from. That's saying quite a bit for it.

Even if the record isn't perfect thanks to its 19 track length and, of course, a smattering of weaker songs, this is some of Silkk's best work. There's little familiarity to be found within this record, though, so you stand warned. Many of No Limit's future stars had yet to be signed in mid-1996 so they are not present and accounted for (including Mystikal, Fiend, Mia X, Magic, and Mac). No Limit was still a fledgling company trying to find their own identity at this time. But rolling the dice and having to listen to either this or "Charge It" is a tough decision. They are both remarkable albums.

9/10