The album, especially tracks like "6 'N the Morning", is considered to have defined the gangsta rap genre. Ice-T claims that this would be his first hip hop album to be carrying a parental advisory warning label,[2] although, it was years before the industry-standard explicit-lyrics sticker was developed and Too $hort's first album that also had to be carried with an "Explicit Lyrics" warning back in 1985[citation needed]. The 1988 CD release included four bonus tracks.
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave Rhyme Pays a "B" and credited DJ Afrika Islam for helping flesh out Ice T's crime-themed raps: "Can't know whether his streetwise jabs at Reagan and recidivism will make a permanent impression on his core audience, but his sexploitations and true crime tales are detailed and harrowing enough to convince anybody he was there."[5] According to AllMusic's Alex Henderson, "the West Coast was well on its way to becomining a crucial part of hip-hop" when Rhyme Pays was released.[3]Los Angeles Times writer Dennis Hunt said the album helped popularize gangsta rap.[6]
[3]