Gangland is the twenty-first studio album by the band Kool & the Gang, released in 2001 following a five-year gap between albums. The album was a compilation of rappers backed by Kool and the Gang remaking some of the band's songs.
Critical reception With a 2.5 out of 4 star rating, Steve Jones of USA Today wrote "Years before Kool rode vocalist James 'J.T.' Taylor's voice to pop success with songs such as Celebration, Cherish and Fresh, they were Hollywood-swinging with such street-oriented anthems as Jungle Boogie and Let the Music Take Your Mind. It's a freshened-up version of the latter funk-fueled jams that propel this new, hard-grooving set. The fusion of rap, jazz and R&B finds the band -- led by founding brothers Robert "Kool" Bell on bass and saxophonist Khalis Bayyan (Ronald Bell) -- joining an engaging pool of young talents."
Track listing
Personnel
Kool & The Gang Curtis "Fitz" Williams – keyboards Claydes Charles Smith – guitars Robert "Kool" Bell – bass George "Funky" Brown – drums, programming, backing vocals Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas – alto saxophone, backing vocals Khalis Bayyan – tenor saxophone, backing vocals Clifford Adams – trombone Larry Gittens – trumpet Sennie "Skip" Martin – trumpet Shawn McQuiller – backing vocals
Additional musicians Hakim Bell – programming Bill Irving – programming Rick Iantosca – keyboards, guitars James Macon – guitars Felicia Moss – backing vocals Carla – backing vocals Kian Smith – backing vocals
Guest performers Da Prince Hakim (1, 4, 5, 9) II Saxxy (2) Female (3) NOVA (3) R.O.C. (4, 7, 9) Asaph Womack (5) FM (6) Rachid (6) Chad Live (7, 10) Youngblood (7) The Juice (8) Thunder (8) Devon (10) SX4 (11–13) Reign (14) NEP (14) G'Poetic (15) Funk-Kin (16)
Production Kool & the Gang – executive producers Steven K. Brown – A&R Hakim Bell – producer, mixing Bill Irving – producer, mixing Khalis Bayyan – producer, mixing George "Funky" Brown – producer Rick Iantosca – producer Andrzej Ramotowski – engineer Don Tittle – engineer Kendal Stubbs – mixing Duncan Stanbury – mastering at Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs (New York City, New York) Kent Jeffrey – art direction, graphic design Mukbil Aktan – art direction, graphic design Ronnie Wright – photography
References