God of the Serengeti

God of the Serengeti is the second solo studio album by American rapper Vinnie Paz. It was released on October 22, 2012 through Enemy Soil Records. Production was handled by C-Lance, JBL the Titan, Arcitype, Beatnick Dee, DJ Lethal, DJ Premier, Havoc, Illinformed, Jack of All Trades, Marco Polo, Mr. Green, MTK, Psycho Les, Stu Bangas and Tony Kenyatta. It features guest appearances from Army of the Pharaohs, Blaq Poet, Block McCloud, Chris Rivers, F.T., Immortal Technique, Kool G Rap, La Coka Nostra, Mobb Deep, Poison Pen, Q-Unique, R.A. the Rugged Man, Scarface, Smoke, Tragedy Khadafi and Whispers.

Music videos were released for the songs "Cheesesteaks" and "The Oracle".

Critical reception
God of the Serengeti was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 72, based on seven reviews.

AllMusic's David Jeffries praised the work with words: "plenty of hot air pushes it forward, while cold steel keeps it on the ground, just like the kinetic, magnetic Paz". William Ketchum III of HipHopDX found "his sophomore solo set, God of the Serengeti, sticks to the script, and that's not a bad thing". Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews.com resumed: "he's an unusual flavor, but one that should still be considered a delicacy--even if it just might be bad for you". Thomas Quinlan of Exclaim! considered that the album "should impress fans and may even bring back some of those who miss the Psycho-Social days".

In his mixed review for XXL, Nick De Molina stated: "while God of the Serengeti doesn't blaze any new ground, it is a release that will hold up to the Paz's legacy on the underground scene and will surely satisfy long-time fans".

DJ Premier ranked the album at No. 12 of his year-end list of top 20 favourite albums of 2012.

Commercial performance
In the United States, the album sold 4,300 units during its first week, charting at number 102 on the Billboard 200 and number 16 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 34 on the Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart and number 19 on the Official Independent Album Breakers Chart.

Personnel

 * Vincenzo "Vinnie Paz" Luvineri – vocals
 * Anthony "Q-Unique" Quiles – vocals (track 1)
 * Felipe "Immortal Technique" Coronel – vocals (track 4)
 * Lékan "Poison Pen" Herron – vocals (track 4)
 * Christopher Lee "Chris Rivers" Rios Jr. – vocals (track 5)
 * Whispers – vocals (track 5)
 * Wilbur "Blaq Poet" Bass – vocals (track 6)
 * Kejuan "Havoc" Muchita – vocals (track 8), producer (track 11)
 * Albert "Prodigy" Johnson – vocals (track 8)
 * Brad "Scarface" Jordan – vocals (track 9)
 * Chad "Apathy" Bromley – vocals (track 10)
 * Daniel "King Syze" Albaladejo – vocals (track 10)
 * Marcus "Crypt the Warchild" Albaladejo – vocals (track 10)
 * James "Jus Allah" Bostick – vocals (track 10)
 * Seamus "Esoteric" Ryan – vocals (track 10)
 * Ira "Blacastan" Osu – vocals (track 10)
 * Vic "Celph Titled" Mercer – vocals (track 10)
 * Mario "Planetary" Collazo – vocals (track 10)
 * George "Slaine" Carroll – vocals (track 11)
 * William "Ill Bill" Braunstein – vocals (track 11)
 * Percy "Tragedy Khadafi" Chapman – vocals (track 13)
 * Winston "F.T." Morris – vocals (track 15)
 * Smoke – vocals (track 15)
 * Richard "R.A. the Rugged Man" Thorburn – vocals (track 16)
 * Nathaniel "Kool G Rap" Wilson – vocals (track 17)
 * Ismael "Block McCloud" Diaz, Jr. – vocals (track 17)
 * Jay "Shylow" Khan – scratches (track 6)
 * Dave "DJ Kwestion" Klein – scratches (tracks: 13, 16)
 * Mireya Ramos – strings (track 14)
 * Eric "DJ Eclipse" Winn – scratches (track 14)
 * Leor "DJ Lethal" Dimant – producer (track 1)
 * Craig "C-Lance" Lanciani – producer (tracks: 2, 5, 17, 18)
 * Chris "DJ Premier" Martin – producer (track 3)
 * Tony Kenyatta – producer (track 4)
 * Marco "Marco Polo" Bruno – producer (track 6)
 * J. "JBL The Titan" Ibarra – producer (tracks: 7, 18)
 * Stuart "Stu Bangas" Hudgins – producer (track 8)
 * Janos "Arcitype" Fulop – producer (track 9)
 * Aaron "Mr. Green" Green – producer (track 10)
 * William "Illinformed" Leigh – producer (track 12)
 * Nick "Beatnick Dee" Doherty – producer (track 13)
 * Lester "Psycho Les" Fernandez – producer (track 14)
 * Jim "Jack Of All Trades" Heffernan – producer (track 15)
 * Matthew "MTK" Crabtree – producer (track 16)
 * Scott "Supe" Stallone – engineering, mixing
 * Mike 13 – engineering (track 3)
 * Toure "Southpaw" Harris – additional vocal recording (track 4)
 * Joe Nardone – mixing (track 6)
 * Daniel "Spent D'Nero" Mawyin – mixing (track 14)
 * Peter Humphreys – mastering
 * Dan Bradley – design, layout
 * Aaron Marsh – illustration