Ice Cube
I'm cooler than your momma's fridge in a snowstorm...
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990)
8.5/10
Producer: Ice Cube, Sir Jinx, Chuck D, Other
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Better Off Dead (skit)
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The Nigga Ya Love to Hate
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Amerikkka’s Most Wanted
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What They Hittin’ Foe?
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You Can’t Fade Me- JD Gafflin’ (skit)
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Once Upon a Time in the Projects
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Turn Off the Radio
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Endangered Species
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A Gangsta’s Fairytale
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I’m only out for One Thang
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Get Off My D*** and Tell Yo B**** To Come Here
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The Drive By (skit)
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Rollin’ Wit the Lench Mob
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Who’s The Mack?
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It’s A Man’s World
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The Bomb
In 1990 Ice Cube turned in one the of the greatest rap albums of all time. Previously, Cube had been the chief songwriter in N.W.A., but after the band’s Manager, Jerry Heller, had tried to cut him out of money that he was rightly owed for his contribution to the group’s debut LP, Straight Outta Compton, he simply up and left. In my opinion it was the greatest move Ice Cube ever made as his song writing was allowed to flourish. Almost entirely produced by Public Enemy’s production team, The Bomb Squad, each track is an absolute pleasure to listen to. This was back in the day when rap music meant something and the artist in question had more freedom over which songs they could sample. Just some of the musicians sampled here include Sly & the Family Stone, James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Parliament. This only confirms the regrettable truth that rap music has gone down the pan since record labels and musicians have put tighter restrictions on the work that they own.
The opening The Nigga Ya Love to Hate is as fierce a recording as Ice Cube ever made. A testament to the thoroughly diverse list of musicians that he sampled, it proves to be the perfect album opener. Sampling George Clinton and Steve Arrington, Cube’s lyrics glide effortlessly over the 3 minute running time. The chorus, “F*ck you Ice Cube”, is genius and has Cube placing his tongue placed firmly in his cheek.
In my opinion the highlight of the LP is Once Upon a Time in the Projects. A funky sample from songstress Betty Davis is the essential element of the song and the story that Cube relays is hilarious. Again, the relationship forged between the beats and thoughtful lyrics is something that modern pioneers of this genre should be in awe of.
It is made evident that throughout the album Cube takes an almost freestyle approach to his rapping, which in turn allows a great degree of spontaneity to occur. Nothing sounds excessively rehearsed, and almost twenty years later it still sounds incredibly fresh. Who’s The Mack? is arguably the most refined moment on AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, and it points toward the more polished and glossy songs that Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg would popularise a couple of years later on The Chronic.
Things end with The Bomb. A news anchor reports on a riot that has broken out as Cube delivers one final irate rant. His lyrics reach a peak on this closing tirade and undoubtedly cement his place as the definitive rapper of the early 1990’s gangster movement. If I have any complaint it is about the skits and spoken interludes which appear throughout the album’s running time. One must confess that while this recording would lose nothing by their omission, they are far less obtrusive than on other releases from this golden era of rap.
Hopefully I haven’t given too much away about this album. I really want everybody who is into this genre to take a leap of faith and purchase some real rap music for a change. By doing so you will see just how fake and commercialised the genre has become.
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Ice Cube
