{"id":9,"date":"2026-08-22T21:47:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T21:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurapulse.live\/?p=9"},"modified":"2026-08-22T21:47:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T21:47:47","slug":"south-central-cartel-west-kept-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurapulse.live\/?p=9","title":{"rendered":"South Central Cartel :: West Kept Secret"},"content":{"rendered":"

My YouTube algorithm spat up a fascinating video<\/a> the other day. I realise this makes me sound like an old man, but hey, you\u2019re reading a review about the South Central Cartel. You\u2019re probably old too. Anyway, there was this Australian fan of West Coast gangster rap who was visiting Compton and South Central Los Angeles to see the childhood homes of Eazy-E and Kendrick Lamar, as well as where they filmed Friday and Boyz N Da Hood. It\u2019s not quite regular tourist spots \u2013 L.A. does actually offer Hip-Hop tours \u2013 but the energy in the video reminded me of the disconnect that can exist between black communities and white rap fans. For many listeners, the violent environments that 90s rappers put on the map were many miles away from the safer white neighbourhoods, particularly ones abroad. This YouTuber didn\u2019t talk to any locals to ask how the area has changed, or to hear from people who actually lived through the 1990s in places like Rosecrans. Instead, he stayed in an Uber and treated it like a safari, rolling up to people\u2019s homes to slowly roll the window down and point \u201cthat\u2019s where Kendrick grew up. Ain\u2019t that amazing? Okay, next stop driver!\u201d. More bafflingly, he was rocking an NY Yankees cap throughout. It was just bizarre. Turns out, this is a poverty porn peddler who documented swanky holiday resorts and has since pivoted to being a Tupac-centric channel, and huzzah, his views have skyrocketed.<\/p>\n

As uncomfortable as this video was, it highlights that most people are only familiar with (and interested in) a handful of rappers from Los Angeles when it had a rich network of artists stretching beyond just Dre and Snoop. South Central Cartel were one of these crews, who found success with 1992\u2019s \u201cSouth Central Madness<\/a>\u201c, which was almost called a classic by our elder statesman Matt Jost back in 2005. The follow-up, \u201cN Gatz We Truss\u201d (1994) made it up to #32 in the Billboard 200. It feels off calling them underground in that sense, because they were very much a thing, even collaborating with household names like Ice-T and 2Pac. Truth be told, I wasn\u2019t overly familiar myself, mostly knowing them because two of their members are named Prodeje and Havoc, which still feels uncanny that Mobb Deep also happened to have those names around the same time. L.V., the vocalist on Coolio\u2019s monster hit \u201cGangsta\u2019s Paradise\u201d, is also a member of the South Central Cartel.<\/p>\n

After all these years, the South Central Cartel returned this year with \u201cWest Kept Secret\u201d, a title that hints at their reputation for being underappreciated. The album contains remixes of older songs, mixed in with a couple of new tracks. The Cartel, much like Compton\u2019s Most Wanted, lacked some of the crossover appeal or political commentary that helped N.W.A. broaden their audience beyond the hood and hardcore hip-hop fans. Still, there\u2019s a raw, direct-to-the-point quality to SCC that is difficult to resist and I found many of their beats slam hard while remaining funkier than James Brown\u2019s sweatrag.<\/p>\n

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