in praise of ... ice cube, ameriKKKa's most wanted

yeah, a great record. what happened to sir jinx anyways?

(i thought he was ok on the lil jon stuff, too, just a bit limp.)

Three little pigs in the Coupe Deville/
Looking for the wolf to kill
They're fucked up and they want revenge
them and Humpty used to be friends

Now they're ememies 'cause he's a traitor/
pulled out the Uzi, cruised by and sprayed him.

It has been at least 8 years since I heard that track, and it still makes me laugh.

Cinderella, ho'in for the fellas/
and Bo Peep is gettin' mighty jealous

Seriously, though...this was Cube moving past NWA. When you hear Straight Outta Compton, you've got three things going for you
1) Eazy E's insanity...no one had rapped on a major record about this type of stuff before
2) Dre/Yella producing, a hint of what was to come
3) Cube's lyrics

If any of the three hadn't been there, Straight Outta Compton would have just been another party tape. As it was, it was a landmark. Jerry and Eazy tried to bitch Cube, Cube said "Peace." and chirped out.

The Bomb Squad did produce this one, and the density of the sound is evident...not laid back like any of Dre's later stuff, or Cube's for that matter...this was anger on wax.

I'd put this one as a pretty significant album...it doesn't have "It Was a Good Day" as a classic radio track or "No Vaseline" as a classic controversy track, but its a damn amazing album, nonetheless.

Oh, and please correct my lyrics if they're in need...it has been a long time since I've heard this album, and I think I may go buy it this afternoon...

del is his cousin!

everybody knows

spice 1 went to high school with souls of mischief

> the debut of Del, the funkee homosapien!

I don't think this is actually true, except maybe production or ghostwriting.

Del calls the radio.

everybody knows

-- and what, Friday, January 25, 2008 3:34 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

http://alum.hampshire.edu/~bjk02/princess/text.gif

No, dude. Everybody knows.

KNOW ALL THE SAME ICE CUBE LORE AS US OR FIND A NEW MESSAGE BOARD, FUCK!

Exactly.

i know everyone knows i was just telling that one guy above me.

that album is teh win.

"FUCK YOU ICE CUBE!"

Laugh Now Cry Later sucked big horse testicles though. I wonder if his follow-up this year will be more of the same. the album cover makes me wonder if he's gonna try to be political again.

revive is noteworthy for dudes bragging about being rap stans

i am happy that this thread has been revived :-)

I saw Cube on this tour at the Palace in Hollywood. He put on a big fur coat & sunglasses for "Who's the Mack" and came strutting out so rad but it was during that song's opening that some crip/blood stuff finally hit the boiling point in the audience and some real fighting broke out so the song got stopped. There was a lot of great staging anyway - show started with Cube in an electric chair doing the "yeah, I got some last words" routine and then jumping up to do "The Nigga Ya Love to Hate," and when everybody gave him the finger during the chorus he was like a hardcore singer responding to the angry energy in the audience, really off-the-charts energy - just fucking awesome. /cube stan

Fuck you man, I ain't no stan! I'm OLD SCHOOL!

(this makes me a herb, not a stan. Jeez.)

I stan corrected!

switch

the DC thread reminded me of one of the lyrics i could never stomach (no pun) on this album - the one about kicking the pregnant woman in the tummy. i wonder if akinyele thought about that when he did i luh huh.

yeah that shit always turned my stomach

I'm not sure that's any worse than "Now I'm in the closet looking for the hanger" but maybe that's not what you mean.

Kind of amazing that Cube would say "I'm in the closet" on record in any context, though.

It's just such a violent misogynistic image made doubly disturbing by the whole "oh and I'm also making sure ain't no baby happening here" aspect. I get that it's like "Bodies" or whatever, that kind of reaction is exactly what he wants, but it doesn't make the line any less shocking imo.

Possibly I'm just really jaded or something, because it doesn't stand out as a particularly misogynistic line to me given all the rest of the shit that gets talked on the album (Get off my dick, and tell your bitch to come here.)

It's the violence of it that bothers me especially. In the Intro to "Know What I Mean" Jay said that "our choruses often bounce with aggressive lustful intent" (lol) and that's one thing, but I feel like threats of life-altering violence are another category of ugh. It's kinda like on Hell Hath No Fury when the only two things that really caught my ear were "it turns to a tight wad the Pyrex is Jewish" and "I'll even grant amnesty to those who owe me/you fuckin faggot," and then I had to stop and figure out why those bothered me so much but I was able to completely gloss over all the misogyny.

even though it doesn't excuse the loathesomeness of the thought of kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach, the whole point of "you can't fade me" is that ice cube is seething with impotent rage about not being to really do anything to get out of his situation. even when he finds out that the kid isn't his at the end of the song, all he does is cuss the woman out (despite all of his violent vengeful fantasies). again, it doesn't make some of his ideas of vengeance less vile -- but it does mitigate it in that ice cube doesn't actually DO anything more than fling insults and limp threats at her.

in a way i actually respect him for saying all those lines. not many artists would write something that ugly about how they might feel in that situation.

I thought getting to the point of "fuck no I can't go that far" was about 1/2 the point of all the good cube records

Yeah, about the only time I can think of another rapper getting the same reaction is the famous Biggie pregnant/pendant line.

necro has quite a few of those moments lol.

that line is only like 84th most mysoginistic thing Ice Cube has said on wax.

the only reason the biggie line seems extra O_O is because someone edited it out of the album

even though it doesn't excuse the loathesomeness of the thought of kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach, the whole point of "you can't fade me" is that ice cube is seething with impotent rage about not being to really do anything to get out of his situation. even when he finds out that the kid isn't his at the end of the song, all he does is cuss the woman out (despite all of his violent vengeful fantasies). again, it doesn't make some of his ideas of vengeance less vile -- but it does mitigate it in that ice cube doesn't actually DO anything more than fling insults and limp threats at her.

― Ein kluges Äpfelchen (Eisbaer), Saturday, January 17, 2009 9:26 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

in a way i actually respect him for saying all those lines. not many artists would write something that ugly about how they might feel in that situation.

― uk grime faggot (titchyschneiderMk2), Sunday, January 18, 2009 11:16 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

good points

ts: you cant fade me vs. i luh huh.

i miss the days of rappers being totally offensive and repugnant.

finally got this on cd (had it on cassette for years) and now it comes with Kill At Will. Yay!

not as good as the absolute classic that followed it, but I think this album doesn't require as much patience to deal with the contradictions required to enjoy some of Cube's lyrics.

Plus "Tales from the Darkside" is a ballz out classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAhtnlfDcdE&index=2&list=PLZD3nYemXNBVV_-gjBvQV_Ba-atu_NVWY

Now which of ya wanna fade the twenty?
I'm turnin your fat pockets skinny
Ah yeah I'm shaking the ivory
And boom it's like they die for me

the whole point of "you can't fade me" is that ice cube is seething with impotent rage about not being to really do anything to get out of his situation

in a way i actually respect him for saying all those lines. not many artists would write something that ugly about how they might feel in that situation.

this reads like satire. we can literally excuse anything as long as it comes out of a rapper's mouth

and anyway death certificate and the predator are much better albums. less sucking of new york dick, for one thing

less sucking of new york dick, for one thing

wait, are you arguing against the Bomb Squad production on Amerikkka's? cos....you may find yourself on an island there.

I prefer Death overall but idk about Predator being better.

Ha, I was just referencing the NWA dis. I like the Bomb Squad production but you gotta admit, it probably sounded a little incongruous at the time

Upon looking at the Predator tracklist, you're right, it's a lot of strong tracks that don't make for an especially strong album somehow (AMW is the opposite of this imo). Which is why I agree that Death Certificate is best despite it containing Black Korea

This album turns 30 in a week (original release date 5/16/90). I was living with my aunt and cousins in Burbank in the fall of 1990 and listened to this record a ton. It struck me as one of the funniest records I'd ever heard — not just the obvious stuff like "Once Upon a Time in the Projects," but even his ultra-hostile boasts and threats came off like he was just bullshitting, trying to get a rise out of you, the listener. And the wit in stuff like "Who's the Mack" or "It's a Man's World"...he was (and is) really fucking smart.

One question that I've had about this album in recent years is, "Why does the cover of an album from 1990 make mention of a 'Fashion Blog'?"

It says "bldg"... building

Lololol

That makes a lot more sense!

Now I feel like a fool.

Ice Cube tweeted some behind-the-scenes stuff yesterday.

After our summer tour in 1989, I left NWA to go solo. Jerry stopped Dre from working on my solo record so I went to NYC for production. Sam Severe stood me up at Def Jam. But then I saw Chuck D walking down the hallway. #AMWat30 pic.twitter.com/mn4RHnCKwY

— Ice Cube (@icecube) May 11, 2020

Even tho I went solo in ‘89. I was never really solo. Rollin’ Wit The LenchMob #AMWat30 pic.twitter.com/uNkN21hFuw

— Ice Cube (@icecube) May 12, 2020

My first day in NYC Chuck D invited me to Greene Street Studios. He was doing a track with Big Daddy Kane called “Burn, Hollywood, Burn” and asked me if I wanted to get on it. Just 4 bars. My first track post NWA. Months later we did the video in LA w Flav. #AMWat30 pic.twitter.com/ZaYTFpnwdv

— Ice Cube (@icecube) May 11, 2020

Cube's worst verse

Does that include the last 20 years?

Oh never mind
I see that you’re the Fred B of rap threads

predator and lethal injection were decent at the time, but in retrospect, they are very hit and miss; just not as good. i think you could make a really solid album from the highlights of both.

Ice cube is down with the P.E.
Now every single bitch wanna see me
Big daddy is smooth word to mother
Let's check out a flick that exploits the color
Roamin' through Hollywood late at night
Red and blue lights what a common sight
Pulled to the curb gettin' played like a sucker
Don't fight the power ? the motherfucker

Public Enemy has historically always been catnip for hos, it's true

Get smart 'fore the shit start
'Fore it get dark, 'fore they hit you with the pitchfork
Better Crip walk (Crip walk), this is real talk
Smoke kush and bush, then we peel off (Eugh)
Niggas still rollin' with the wheels off (Eugh)
Always lookin' out for the crisscross
I'm a bigger boss than Rick Ross
Always winnin', nigga, get lost
It's the warlord, bring the voodoo
When I bail through, it's crazy like Bellevue
What they tell you? (Leave that boy alone) Leave that boy alone
Like Home Alone (Yeah), fuck a skull and bone
Arrest the president, you got the evidence

I win