King Tee IV Life
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Album Summary
King Tee IV Life dropped in 1994 on MCA Records, and baby, this was King Tee — born Roger McBride out of Compton — planting his flag deep in the West Coast soil one more time. Recorded within the tight-knit brotherhood of the Likwit Crew collective, the album drew on the creative energy of producers tied to that family, including the fingerprints of DJ Pooh and the wider circle that ran with Tha Alkaholiks. The sound was pure Southern California — laid-back, funk-drenched, soaked in that G-funk aesthetic that was the heartbeat of Los Angeles rap in the early nineties. This was not an album chasing trends. This was King Tee doing what King Tee always did, carving his lane with wit, grit, and that unmistakable Compton cadence.
Reception
- The album moved with modest commercial numbers, reflecting King Tee's standing as a deeply respected figure in the West Coast underground rather than a crossover pop commodity — and his loyal audience understood the difference.
- Hip-hop heads and critics who paid attention recognized the album for King Tee's razor-sharp, humor-laced lyricism and his gift for painting West Coast street life with equal parts authenticity and levity.
- King Tee IV Life did not generate mainstream chart breakthroughs, but it held its ground as a credible and celebrated entry in the mid-nineties West Coast rap canon among those who knew where to listen.
Significance
- King Tee IV Life stands as a vivid time capsule of the mid-nineties West Coast underground, with King Tee serving as a connective thread between the pioneering Compton rap era of the late eighties and the Likwit Crew generation that was redefining Los Angeles hip-hop in real time.
- The album's deep roots in funk and soul production placed it squarely within the G-funk tradition, affirming the sonic identity that Southern California had claimed as its own and that King Tee had been helping to shape long before it had a name.
- As a veteran MC operating outside the glare of mainstream celebrity, King Tee used this album to demonstrate that longevity in hip-hop was earned through substance and consistency — a lesson the streets of Compton had been teaching long before the cameras showed up.
Tracklist
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A1 You Can't See Me 83
4:23
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A2 Super Nigga 100
4:03
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A3 Duck 97
4:10
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A4 Dippin' 93
4:17
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A5 3 Strikes Ya Out —
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B1 Down Ass Loc 108
3:00
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B2 Free Style Ghetto 91
4:50
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B3 Way Out There 80
4:35
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B4 Let's Get It On 177
4:30
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B5 Check The Flow 95
4:13
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B6 Advertisement 96
3:53
Artist Details
King Tee, born Roger McBride, came up out of Compton, California in the late 1980s and laid down some of the rawest, most soulful West Coast hip-hop that those streets ever produced, signing with Capitol Records and dropping his debut *Act a Fool* in 1988 before the whole world even knew what West Coast rap was about to become. His smooth, laid-back flow and jazz-inflected beats made him a foundational figure in the sound that would eventually evolve into G-funk, and his close ties to DJ Pooh and later Tha Alkaholiks cemented his place as a respected underground legend whose influence ran deeper than the mainstream charts ever showed. King Tee never quite got the commercial shine his talent deserved, but among those who know their hip-hop history, he stands as one of the unsung architects of a California sound that changed the whole game.
