AMG Review of Hits, Vol. 2: Ganked & Gaffled

Jason Birchmeier
All Music Guide

Spice 1's first of two greatest-hits collections in two years, Hits, Vol. 2 compiles a modest number of the notorious West Coast hardcore rapper's performances. The 16 songs featured on this best-of come from a variety of obscure sources, and it's very questionable whether or not these songs were really so-called "hits" since Spice 1 had few, if any, hits since the mid-'90s. Furthermore, you'd probably presume that a greatest-hits collection such as this would encompass Spice 1's numerous albums for Jive during the '90s -- like the excellent Hits collection had -- but that is not the case here. As mentioned, the 16 songs on Hits, Vol. 2 are obscure recordings most fans probably have never heard. Thus, you should think of this best-of album as a rarities collection, since that would be a more accurate description. Unfortunately, Thug World Entertainment assumed titling this collection as a hits rather than rarities collection would no doubt sell better, even if listeners were misled in the process. Regardless, many guests appear over the course of this album -- Too $hort, Eightball, 2Pac, E-40, Roger Troutman, Big Mike -- and that may be reason enough for many to seek out this collection.