In a Major Way

*In a Major Way* was E-40’s first nationwide hit album, and it’s easy to see why. All his work over the previous seven years coalesces here into a unified vision of “mob music.” The hit single “Sprinkle Me” sets the tone for the album, as 40 unleashes an outlandish opening couplet over a beat of Brontosaurus-sized bass: “I be more hipper than a hippopotamus / Get off in your head like a neurologist / Pushin’ more weight than Atlas / Got a partner by the name of 2Pacalypse.” 40 has an unparalleled ability to bend and coil language. He is allergic to anything typical, and like a painter looking for new colors, he is unafraid to invent the words he needs. In “Bootsee” he takes a moment to admonish his enemies: “To tweakers, droamers, drifters, leftovers, geekers, zombies / Folks that steal from they mommies.” Though his style seems outrageous, 40’s tracks remain rooted in the monumental funk of George Clinton and Roger Troutman. Even as they are unlike anything else in hip-hop history, “Da Bumble,” “Spittin’” and “Fed” are every inch as gangsta as anything by Ice Cube or N.W.A.

One of E-40's best albums -- and along with Tha Hall of Game (1996), perhaps his best overall -- In a Major Way features the Bay Area rapper early in his career, when he was at his most inspired and focused.