Smoke Some Kill

Though the album was not as successful as Saturday Night! – The Album, it did manage to make it to #180 on the Billboard 200 and #50 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop album charts.[1]

The song "Signifying Rapper" was based upon the "signifying monkey" character of African-American folklore. A version of this story was performed by Rudy Ray Moore. Schoolly D's adaptation of the story is recited over the rhythm guitar figure from Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir".[2] The song was featured in the film Bad Lieutenant, and inspired the title of (and is discussed in) the book Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present.

"Signifying Rapper" was the target of several lawsuits following its use in the 1992 film Bad Lieutenant,[2] in multiple scenes.

In 1994, Live Home Video and distributor Aries Film Releasing were ordered to destroy any unsold copies of Bad Lieutenant as part of a copyright infringement ruling.[3] Director Abel Ferrara was angered by the incident, which he felt "ruined the movie":

"Signifying Rapper" was out for five years, and there wasn't a problem. Then the film had already been out for two years and they start bitching about it. [...] It cost Schoolly like $50,000. It was a nightmare. And meanwhile, "Signifying Rapper" is 50 million times better than "Kashmir" ever thought of being. [...] Why sue? You should be happy that somebody is paying homage to your work.

— Abel Ferrara, The A.V. Club interview[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Robert Christgau	B−[5]
Los Angeles Daily News	B[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]

The album received generally mixed reviews from most music critics. The Los Angeles Daily News gave the album a B.[6] Rolling Stone reviewer Cary Carling panned the album, writing "With its images of gun-toting bluster, mushrooming genitals and rampant drug use – backed by thuddingly dull beats – Smoke Some Kill should be played for every prospective rapper so he'll know what not to do."[7] Allmusic reviewer Ron Wynn called the album "more chaotic than creative".[4] In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B− rating,[5] calling Schoolly D "the white audience's paranoid-to-masochistic fantasy of a B-boy" and commending him for "realizing the fantasy so scarily, and for commanding his own tough-guy sound".[5]

1. "Smoke Some Kill" – 3:28
2. "Here We Go Again" – 2:43
3. "Mr.Big Dick" – 4:36
4. "Gangster Boogie II" – 3:43
5. "This Is It (Ain't Gonna Rain)" – 3:56
6. "Another Poem" – 4:20
7. "We Don't Rock, We Rap" – 3:17
8. "Signifying Rapper" – 4:51
9. "No More Rock N' Roll" – 3:52
10. "Same White Bitch (Got You Strung Out On Cane)" – 4:19
11. "Treacherous" – 4:27
12. "Black Man" – 4:19
13. "Coqui 900" – 3:30
14. "Fat Gold Chain" – 3:01

• Schoolly D – producer
• DJ Code Money – sampling, scratching
• Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo – engineer, mix on "Mr. Big Dick", "Gangster Boogie II", "This Is It (Ain't Gonna Rain)", "Another Poem", "Same White Bitch (Got You Strung Out On Cane)", "Treacherous", "Black Man"
• Nigel Green – mix on "Smoke Some Kill", "Here We Go Again", "We Don't Rock, We Rap", "Signifying Rapper", "No More Rock N' Roll", "Coqui 900", "Fat Gold Chain"
• Andy "Funky Drummer" Kravitz – drums on "Signifying Rapper" and "No More Rock N' Roll"
• Mike Tyler – guitar on "Signifying Rapper" and "No More Rock N' Roll"
• Doug Grigsby – bass on "Signifying Rapper" and "No More Rock N' Roll"
• Big Tim – bass on "Another Poem"

• Emery, Andrew (1997). "Schoolly D - Original Gangsta". Global Darkness. ... I was sued by Led Zeppelin and that wasn't a pretty sight. Passing mention.