The legendary Ice Cube, straight outta Los Angeles and known for his lyrics, film productions and foundations such as BIG3 and CubeVision, continues to make his musical mark as a true hip-hop veteran. Even on his twelfth album, he is setting the scene. A cousin of Del the Funky Homosapien & Kam, he made his first moves in the rap game with the group C.I.A. before becoming world famous as a member of the iconic N.W.A. This west coast pioneer made a solo move to Priority Records and dropped masterpieces such as ‘AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted,’ co-produced by The Bomb Squad.
Ice Cube's ‘Death Certificate’ is an absolute must-know in west coast rap thanks to its profound racial and political themes. His debut on Lench Mob Records, ‘The Predator,’ was bursting with raw street tales that skillfully exposed the racial tensions in the U.S. ‘Lethal Injection’ introduced a heavier g-funk sound, while his ‘War & Peace’ double album was the latest feat with Priority.
Fast forward to 2006, when Ice Cube made his return with ‘Laugh Now, Cry Later’ at Virgin Music & EMI Records after a period full of acting. In the same vein was ‘Raw Footage,’ although that album was mid in comparison. With ‘I'm the West,’ Cube had a dip, but with ‘Everythang's Corrupt,’ he managed to bring some salt to the pot again, although not groundbreaking.
In recent drops, Cube has settled down again. ‘Man Down’ gave a fat nod to his beginning days last year, and now we have the sequel ‘Man Up’. The album kicks off with ‘Man Power,’ produced by E-A-Ski, which directly asks the listener about the stinginess of their masculinity. Cube takes a fierce line in ‘What You Gonna Do About It?’ and points out the wannabe gangstas. ‘Freedumb’ opens your eyes to the fact that we are checked 24/7 via smartphones and ‘Guess What?’ paints his suspicious analysis of ‘friend or foe.
The message is clear in ‘Forget Me If You Ain't wit Me,’ and with the single ‘Before Hip Hop,’ Cube looks back to his pre-fame days, draped over a Hallway Productionz beat. Along with Scarface, he has his say on ‘Act My Age,’ trap-style, as a shoutout to the older MCs. ‘Ratchet Ass Mouth’ serves a thick warning of what chicks to avoid.
With an old school ‘California Dreamin’’ vibe, ‘Respect My Space’ peaks with g-funk references to that West Coast life. ‘That Salt & Pepper,’ over a funky Erick Sermon beat, and ‘Bring Everybody,’ loaded with karisma and no purpose left to it, to ‘All Work No Play’ in which Cube challenges the OGs who share the same vibes.
Despite reviews of the past two decades, including the ‘War of the Worlds’ flop, ‘Man Down’ shows that Ice Cube still knows how to keep the game salty. ‘Man Up’ follows its own but slightly less edgy course. The album may have fewer productions than ‘Man Down,’ but still scores a salty 6 out of 10 deservedly. What do you say, is Cube still the G.O.A.T.?
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