REWIND: Ice Cube - "Who's The Mack"

Classic Ice Cube.

Cube kept his writing descriptive and his vocal approach deliberate. Although he had uptempo songs on his first solo album, he has the forethought to slow his tempos down in order to be heard and understood.

Classic American writing... and rappin.

Ice Cube Sits Down with Holly Robinson Peete & Sharon Osbourne

Ice Cube stopped by "The Talk" yesterday and spoke with Holly Robinson Peete and Sharon Osbourne about his show, 'Are We There Yet?" and his career as rapper and film/tv producer.

If you haven't caught this show check it out. Definitely a hipper, refreshing twist on daytime talk. 

"The Talk" airs weekdays at 2pm ET on CBS.

Ice Cube - "Nothing Like L.A."

Ice Cube - "Nothing Like L.A." | Download

New Ice Cube single.

Fresh.

2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher #3 Ice Cube - OMG, Doughboy Rev Run - Diggy, Jo Jo

Too bad OMG and Doughboy didn't have more time. I've heard them spit and was looking for them to do their thing. Dudes still did well.

After hearing JoJo, Diggy and Run I was impressed with this cypher more than I expected. I'm always rooting for JoJo - when your father is a legendary pioneer that's pressure - but, he always delivers. The surprise was Diggy and Run.

Their flows had good timing, they were fresh, slang was slick and they knew when to switch up the vowels they were rhyming.

Nothing worse than listening to a dude rhyme every word he can say, all day, to show his wordplay and think it's okay - see what I mean.

Run killed it.

Video: 2010 BET Awards Ice Cube Tribute

Cube's tribute and his acceptance speech were equally good.

Video: Ice Cube ft. Malay & W.C. - "Too West Coast"

New Ice Cube.

Video: Ice Cube ft. Dough Boy & OMG

From Ice Cube's forthcoming album, I Am The West. Dropping September 28th.

His sons(OMG and Dough Boy) do a solid job on this track, but, I gotta hear them on some real West Coast gangsta tracks.

Word.

"Lottery Ticket" Trailer

"Lottery Ticket" is about a young man(Kevin Carson played by rapper, Bow Wow) who plays the lottery and wins $370 million.

He has to protect the winning ticket from his opportunistic neighbors over a holiday weekend.

Released in theaters on August 20, 2010.

This film reminds me of Friday, Next Friday, Next Friday 2 ... and The Friday

After that!

Video: BET's Food For Thought: Conversations with Ice Cube

Angie Martinez, Harry Allen and Stephen A. Smith sit down to conduct separate interviews with Ice Cube.

Cube says a lot of good stuff in this one. You might have heard some of the anecdotes before, but, this interview puts all of them together.

"Are We There Yet?" Finale Giveaway - Wednesday at 9PM on tbs

"Are We there Yet?"( Ice Cube, executive producer) is wrapping up their first season on Wednesday at 9 pm, on tbs.

By watching the last two episodes and texting from a cellphone, you could be the winner of a $2500 cash prize.

For more info on winning the grand prize, click here...

Waxpoetics Issue No. 41 - Available Now

Waxpoetics is back with No. 41, the May/June issue which shines the spotlight on Ice Cube, EPMD, Ice T and KRS-One.

I'm especially pleased to see this issue because I posted on Ice Cubes latest single in April and felt it necessary to mention the prominent role he played in East Coast/West Coast unity early in his career.

Long before he left NWA, he was friendly with a number of rappers out of New York. He was featured prominently in EPMD's "The Big Payback" video, along with Eazy E, so it only made sense for him to feel comfortable enough to record down at the now defunct Green Street Studios with The Bomb Squad(Public Enemy's production team) in Soho.

Waxpoetic examines the fruits of the earlier union between Cube and the East.

There is also a feature on Ice T, another West coast "G", originally from Newark, NJ.

There are still tapes floating around of Ice T being interviewed on New York radio in the early 80's with Afrika Islam. He was always a cool dude in person and never acted otherwise, which contributes to the respect he receives from all segments and generations of Hip Hop(including this writer).

The EPMD and KRS-One round out the rest of the Waxpoetics covers.

Waxpoetics.com

Check out EPMD's Big Payback video with cameos by NWA:

Ice Cube and The Roots on Jimmy Fallon (Audio) - "Straight Outta Compton"

Ice Cube, Black Thought and Capt. Kirk handle rap duties.

I ain't mad at this. I am mad at the fact Jimmy Fallon didn't make video available.

"N.W.A. and the Posse" Album Cover Explained

via laweekly

Before N.W.A.'s groundbreaking "Straight Outta Compton" there was N.W.A. and the Posse, released a year earlier.

The album cover has many of the N.W.A. core members(Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy E), but, there are a few other faces that are less recognizable. Some consider this the first N.W.A. album, while others see it as a compilation that included the group and other talents.

Martin Cizmar hit the streets, found the members he could and spoke with the others by phone. The result is an article that details each member, why they were at the shoot, their significance to the group and where they are today. Pretty good piece.

This photo is a snapshot of Los Angeles Hip Hop before it would explode onto the American and world stage a year later.

Get up on your N.W.A. history...

Ice Cube Talks with Vulture about Tribeca Film Fest's Doc "Straight Outta L.A."

Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg discuss Raider football in the documentary "Straight Outta L.A.".

via vulture

Vulture spoke with Ice Cube about his ESPN documentary, "Straight Outta L.A.", which is part of the sports channel's "30-for-30" film series. The film was featured in the Tribeca Film Festival in New York this week.

Cube explains how the timing of the NFL's Oakland Raiders move to Los Angeles coincided with N.W.A. coming out with their music and the combination led to both parties benefiting.

He also discusses music's contribution to sports and why both are necessary to have more than a game.

Cube even contributed a song to the film, "Raider Nation". Watch a clip from the Ice Cube directed film.

Read Mike Ayers really good interview here...

"Straight Outta L.A." premieres on ESPN May 11 at 8pm.

Related: ESPN Moving Into The Film Making Business with "30 for 30"

Ice Cube - "I Rep That West"

Ice Cube - I Rep That West | Download

Off of the new album, "I Am The West" dropping July 13th.

I'm glad to see artists from all regions of the country coming together and collaborating on projects. You even have East Coast blogs(like this one) posting on West Coast artists weekly.

Ice Cube was one of the first artists on the West Coast to appear in a video with East Coast artists(EPMD) so he was one of the pioneers of this unity.

He later came out to NYC to work with Public Enemy(The Bomb Squad) on his solo album, Amerikkas Most Wanted, at Greene Street Studios, after leaving N.W.A.

Ice Cube in EPMD's "The Big Payback" video, circa 1989.

Check N.W.A. playing a major role in the EPMD video, "The Big Payback". Cube is featured heavily after the 1:56 mark.

One love y'all.