Ice Cube: Pioneer, Gangsta, & Greatest
The idea of a “greatest rappers of all time” list is laughable. This concept is subjective, so there’s absolutely no way we can agree on one list that works. We all might have similar names, but then you have to pick and order the list. How do you decide Tupac over Biggie or vice versa? It’s all subjective.
When Billboard put out their “greatest” list, I was disappointed. Not in the fact that some of my favorites were excluded, but because it came out lazily written. There was one accompanying paragraph for each artist that didn’t break down why they are where they are. The writers claimed Biggie never put out a bad song or bar, but that’s easily disputable. Plus, it’s an opinion. So wouldn’t the list be their favorite rappers?
If I was going to be mad over their choices, I’d have to dispute two legends being forgotten and overlooked. LL Cool J and Ice Cube don’t get the credit they deserve. For the sake of arguing the list, I’d throw both of them on over Ghostface Killah and Lauryn Hill. No shade at all, but those two impacted me more than the others.
Since Christopher Pierznik already covered LL Cool J’s career in the best, most comprehensive way possible, allow me to take the honor of presenting the side of Ice Cube. He’s a legend, a first-rate rapper, and someone whose influence is sprinkled all across the music industry.
Ice Cube is one of the best rappers ever. He has a successful acting career, but we’re solely focused on his musical contributions. Cube has six Platinum projects (including Kill At Will), six Gold ones (including Bootlegs & B-Sides and Greatest Hits), three Platinum soundtracks, and on the verge of his 10th studio album.
When you take away the accomplishments, Cube is one of the coldest MCs to ever hit a microphone. From N.W.A.’s “Dopeman,” and writing a lot of the group’s material, up to his last album, I Am The West, he always possessed a pen game that was untouchable. As a forefather for gangsta rap, he merely started out writing what he grew up around. Police problems? “Fuck The Police.” Social and political commentary? The entire AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted album. Regardless of what background you come from, Cube’s words were so articulate that everyone could understand and feel him.
The thing that doesn’t get said enough is that Ice Cube’s actually never fallen off musically. Sure, many people care more about his movies than his albums, but that doesn’t take away from the music’s quality. I can admit that LL Cool J has become the definition of a struggling rapper, with all due respect because he’s a legend too, but the same could never be said about Cube. He’s a gangsta rapper and isn’t trying to crossover to appeal to to this generation. “My style never changed for 22 summers,” he spits on “It Takes A Nation.”
When Ice Cube went solo, he wasn’t fully prepared to cut all ties to N.W.A. His issues were with Eazy-E and Jerry Heller, but Dre was someone he still considered a friend. In fact, Cube would reveal 20 years later that AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted would’ve been produced by Dre if it wasn’t for Jerry. He told XXL, “When I went solo, I wanted Dr. Dre to do AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, but Jerry Heller vetoed that…and I’m pretty sure Eazy didn’t want Dre to do it. But Dre did want to do it; we gotta put that on record. Dre wanted to do my record, but it was just too crazy with the break-up of [N.W.A].”
With that idea on the backburner, Cube would retreat to New York and make history with The Bomb Squad. It was a winning combination, because the Bomb Squad team were familiar with creating production for social awareness records since they were Public Enemy’s go-to. However, they weren’t Cube’s first choices. He wanted Sam Sever, who was known for his work with 3rd Bass, but he didn’t show up to a meeting set up by Lyor Cohen.
Sam’s negligence allowed Ice Cube to run into Chuck D, whom he was already cool with. Chuck was one of the people who listened to Cube’s rants and issues with N.W.A. prior to leaving. A conversation between the two led to him going into the studio to work on a record titled “Burn, Hollywood, Burn.” During that session, Hank Shocklee threw out an idea that they’d produced his entire album. The rest is history.
To further capitalize off the success of AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, roughly seven months later, Ice Cube returned with Kill At Will. Sir Jinx and Cube handled the production after learning from two of the greats at the time (Dre and the Bomb Squad). Chilly Chill had one credit as well. It featured the infamous “Jackin’ 4 Beats,” the first of its kind and eventual staple in hip-hop’s culture, and a guest appearance from Chuck D on a remix to “Endangered Species.”
The controversy surrounding Ice Cube’s solo career would continue on Death Certificate. Billboard called him “racist” and persuaded some retailers not to stock the album. Overseas, England Records, who distributed the album, took off “No Vaseline” and “Black Korea” without his consent. Oregon made it illegal to display his face in all retail outlets. There was a campaign to get the videos removed from MTV.
Despite all the people who tried to stop him, Death Certificate was the #2 album in its first week, losing to Garth Brooks’ unstoppable Ropin’ The Wind. However, it was #1 in rap with 105,000 copies sold. It’s reported that the promotion budget was only $18,000, which resulted in very little radio play. However, if that’s all that was spent, Cube easily recouped that and much more as Death Certificate is 2x platinum.
On a personal note, Death Certificate spawned one of my all-time favorite Cube songs. “Bird In The Hand” portrayed how he felt about America as a nation toward blacks. The struggle between taking life into your own hands and waiting for help. Kendrick Lamar would sample the record on good kid, m.A.A.d city too, and besides being influenced by Cube, he knew how dope the production was.
“I didn’t have no money, so now I got to punch the
Clock, gotta slave, and be half a man
But whitey says there’s no room for the African
Always knew that I would clock G’s
But welcome to McDonalds; may I take your order, please?
Gotta serve ya food that might give you cancer
Cuz my son doesn’t take no for an answer”
1992’s The Predator was the album where Ice Cube wanted to return to just the art of MCing. It had songs like “When Will They Shoot?” and “We Had To Tear This Motherfucka Up,” but the focus wasn’t only creating more controversy. He had done that his entire career, and while it worked, every artist needs to experience some kind of change.
Ice Cube would take a different approach for a single that would wind up being his most known to date. “It Was A Good Day” came at a time of confusion and anger following the Rodney King verdict. Cube would cite inspiration from the riots, because it created a gang truce between the bloods and crips. As he told Complex, “That gang truce really is what made me feel like, it is a good day out there for us if we can just kind of fight for it and reach for it.”
Twenty years later, the song’s actual good day was subject to debate. A few outlets tried to pick at the song’s lyrics to pinpoint when it was. There was January 20, 1992 and then November 30, 1988. Ice Cube has since put to rest that the song is fictional and a concrete date can’t be figured out.
For four years, Ice Cube didn’t slow down. His solo career hit the ground running and it was fuel for him to be consistent in an era where you didn’t necessarily have to put out an album a year. He did it, though. 1993 had Lethal Injection, which might be one of his weaker albums but ended up platinum anyways.
Five years would pass before Ice Cube put out another album. He was acting now in roles like The Glass Shield, Higher Learning, and Anaconda. There also was a little film titled Friday that would go on to be a cult classic. Aside from his musical achievements, Friday is arguably the best thing he’s ever created.
War & Peace was the beginning of Ice Cube’s decline in rap. The first disc arrived in 1998 and would be his last platinum effort, while the second disc dropped in 2000. These two last albums were his exit from Priority Records. In the process, he continued to ascend in Hollywood and thus putting his music on hold.
For six years, we watched Cube on the big screen through movies he wrote and roles he landed. It wasn’t until 2006 that he returned with Laugh Now, Cry Later, then two years after with Raw Footage, and lastly with I Am The West in 2010. He was developing a little bit of a pattern, but the climate of rap had changed. It was all about dances and the south was on top. If you didn’t follow Cube’s catalog closely, you might think his last great contribution was Lil Jon’s “Roll Call.” It wasn’t.
None of those three aforementioned albums are classic by any means, but they all featured the type of songs you’d expect from Ice Cube. “It Takes A Nation,” “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It,” “Why We Thugs,” and “No Country For Young Men” can all contend for spots on his greatest hits album. He wasn’t adapting, and it also didn’t result in the best sales.
Ice Cube has a catalog that still sounds fresh today. You can replay his early solo work and get chills how accurate it comes across. The issues that affected our neighborhoods in the U.S. then made for socially relevant music today. He has more good than bad in relation to songs and albums. There was never a moment of selling out or trying to fit in with what was hot.
This was all just his solo career too. There was no need to recount N.W.A. as Straight Outta Compton just did that. His two albums with WC and Mack 10 as The Westside Connection were underrated as well. All of his guest features over the years with everyone from Scarface to Tech N9ne.
When you add up every single piece of Ice Cube’s rap career, it equals nothing short of being a legend. One that deserves a spot on the best, greatest, and favorite rappers lists being conceived. He’s a pioneer whose influence can be found in the generation of today.
Yay yay!
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