Day 677: Ice Cube – AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted

 

So I missed the Ice Cube express back in the 90's. Most of my experience with Mr. Cube is through adorable kids films. Who'd have thought he was a great rapper who didn't have to tell kids if they are there yet.

I thought this album was real good. The rap is still in that simpler more gentle stage even at this point. It's not the old school "My name is Steve & I'm here to say, I love to rap in a major way" style but it's still slower and more deliberate. The melody is mostly just a solid drum/base beat with Ice Cube rapping over it the whole time. He speaks articulately so every work is intelligible unlike a lot of ridiculously fast rap songs nowadays.

What was fun about this album was that they used fake news segments to introduce each song. I couldn't figure out the connection between the segment and the song but it was still a cool idea. There was also some female rapping which is always good to hear ("It's A Man's World").

Overall, this album was good Cube-y fun. He's got a simple rap style, slow and easy to understand. There is interesting uses of sampling and the songs are clever. 4 stars.

Next:
Jane’s Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual