Ice Cube began rapping in his early teens, appearing in N.W.A's first release at only 16 years. He was the unofficial lead rapper of the group thought to be by many the most talented lyricist of the group. His voice is one the most distinctive in the rap world, never holding back on his angry, almost furious delivery, no matter what type of rap song.
In '89 he left N.W.A. on a sour note after accusing the group's manager, Jerry Heller of withholding revenues for himself. He then went off to start his lucrative solo career, beginning with an EP entitled "Kill At Will". With his 1990 sophomore solo release, "Amerrikkka's Most Wanted", he became known as "The Nigga You Love To Hate". He also gained notoriety with his grill, reflecting the anger in his rapping style- the coldest, "Ice"yest stare you could imagine, which translated verbally would be something like 'Fuck The World'. To catch him cracking the slightest grin is about as likely as catching Vanessa Del Rio with her pants on. He also founded his own posse, called Da Lench Mob, including rappers such as K-Dee, ,Yo Yo, Kam, Threat, and W.C. & The M.A.A.D. Circle.
In 1991, Ice Cube released his third LP, entitled "Death Certificate". This album is thought by many to be his best and most unforgettable album to date, not in the least because of the vicious retaliatory attack on his former parters in rhyme, N.W.A., after they had called him a traitor. This track, aptly entitled "No Vaseline", along with several other gems on the album were proof that Cube's rapping skills had matured and become more versatile. His songs also touched on some very real issues. "My Summer Vacation" is a somewhat comic tale about the migration of Los Angeles gangs to other parts of the country. The track "Us" told the African-American community that before they blamed the Whites for everything that was wrong in their neighborhoods, to take a look at themselves first. However, Cube was not without his racial criticism, first telling how the white medical staff at the local hospital treat Blacks like trash, even when critically wounded by a gunshot, then saying how he "Wanna Kill (Uncle) Sam", then showing his dissaproval of Black-White relationships in "Horny Lil' Devil" and finally rapping about living in "Black Korea", where almost every corner store in the ghetto is owned by racist Orientals who don't speak a word of English.
Ice Cube's fourth album, "The Predator", was released in 1992, at the dawn of the "West Coast Come-up", which was headed by his former groupmate, Dr. Dre. "The Predator" was an album with tight lyrics and good production work by such producers as Cypress Hill's D.J. Muggs, but however lacked the intensity and the touching of a wide range of issues like "Death Certificate" did. Songs which stood out from this LP however were "Wicked" and "When Will They Shoot?". Another track, "We Had To Tear This Mothafucka Up" dealt with the L.A. riots which happened in April '92 as a result of a 'not guilty' verdict for the four police officers accused of beating Rodney King. In 1994 came "Lethal Injection", which contained a guest appearence by the King of Funk George Clinton in a memorable track entitled "Bop Gun". P-Funk, co-created by George Clinton experienced a revival in 1993-1994 in no small part thanks to Dr. Dre's The Chronic. On "Down For Whatever", Cube displayed a new, smooth rapping style for a change, and pulls it off in a fabulous manner.
"Bootlegs & B-Sides", a compilation of remixes of previous singles and other flipside tracks, released in '95 was Cube's latest solo release up to date. In the past two years, Cube has been concentrating on other work, including production work on albums from Da Lench mob, K-Dee, and Inglewood rapper Mack 10. With the latter, Cube formed in 1996 along with W.C. the Westside Connection, a west coast tag team which formed as a response to growing East Coast criticism of West Coast rap music. Also, Cube has been more and more involved in the motion picture industry, and not only on soundtracks. His acting career started as a role in the John Singleton drama about life in South Central L.A., "Boyz N' The Hood". Since then, Cube has appeared in a growing number of movies, such as 'Tresspass', 'Dangerous Ground', 'Glass Shield' and 'Friday'. He has also mended ties with Dr. Dre, and although a planned duo album called "Helter Skelter" never did appear, he did do a track together with Dre called "Natural Born Killaz", which was featured on the "Murder Was The Case" soundtrack as well as on the "Natural Born Killers" soundtrack.
It has been well over 3 years since Cube's last solo album (not including 'Bootlegs & B-Sides' which contained no new material) and many fans are wondering if he ever will go at it again like he used to. At the time that this is being written, there is talk of a new Cube solo project tentatively entitled "War & Peace", but nothing more is certain at this point. But regardless of whether Cube decides to prolong his solo career, just concentrate on production, acting and WSC, or even decides it's time to throw in the towel, one thing in certain: O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson has without a doubt established himself in not only the West Coast Rap Hall of Fame, but also in the Rap world asa whole, even if he is to you "the Nigga You Love to Hate"
| Ice Cube Releases | |||||
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(LP-1989) |
(LP-1990) |
(LP-1991) |
(LP-1992) |
(LP-1994) |
(LP-1995) |
