Ice Cube is one of the founding artists of gangsta rap, and much of his musical output has contained harsh socio-political commentary. He was ranked number 8 on MTV's list of the 10 Greatest MCs of All Time, while fellow rapper Snoop Dogg ranked Ice Cube as one of the greatest MC of all time. AllMusic has called him one of hip-hop's best and most controversial artists, as well as "one of rap's greatest storytellers". In 2012, The Source ranked him number 14 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. In 2014, About.com ranked him number 11 on their list of the "50 Greatest MCs of All Time"
He released his solo debut album, "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted," in 1990 to critical and commercial success, although upon its release he was accused of racism and misogyny. He has since released 1991's "Death Certificate", 1992's "The Predator", 1993's "Lethal Injection", 1998's "War & Peace Vol 1 (The War Disc)", 2000's "War & Peace Vol 2 (The Peace Disc)", 2006's "Laugh Now, Cry Later", 2008's "Raw Footage", and 2010's "I Am the West."
Ice Cube was raised in South Central by his parents, both of whom were employed at UCLA. He began writing raps while attending George Washington Preparatory High School in Westmont, California, most notably "Boyz 'N Tha Hood", which later became famous when done by N.W.A in 1986. Cube finished his schooling at William Howard Taft Charter High School in Woodland Hills, a predominately white neighborhood in San Fernando Valley, some 40 miles from the high-crime neighborhood where his family stayed.
Cube and a friend, Sir Jinx, rapped as a partnership called C.I.A. at parties hosted by Dr. Dre. After a brief stint in a group called "HBO", Cube showed Eazy-E "Boyz 'N Da Hood," and the pair, plus Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, The Arabian Prince and MC Ren, formed N.W.A.
Cube took one year off to earn a degree in architectural drafting in Phoenix in 1987 but returned in time to participate in N.W.A's debut album, Straight Outta Compton. The album attracted much notoriety for the group, from the FBI and concerned citizen and parent groups. Cube did the lead verse for the album's infamous track "Fuck tha Police."
Ice Cube left N.W.A due to financial and personality conflicts in 1989. With Da Lench Mob and the Bomb Squad (Public Enemy's producers), Cube recorded his debut album in New York City. AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was released in 1990 and was an instantaneous hit as rap's popularity increased in mainstream society.
His 1991 follow-up, Death Certificate, was even more controversial. A few songs in the album featured Cube's hate of Uncle Sam and his politics, and a bonus track named "No Vaseline" was a diss to his former N.W.A bandmates. Also that year, he converted to the Nation of Islam. The album was re-released in 2003 with the bonus track "How to Survive in South Central," originally from the 1991 "Boyz N the Hood" soundtrack.
Controversy stirred about racist lyrics in his material: "Black Korea" (a song against Korean shopowners), referring to a former boss as "white Jew" in "No Vaseline", and songs such as "Enemy and Cave Bitch" (songs against "devils", a popular derogatory term at the time for white people). Partially to help deflect criticisms, Cube appointed a female rapper named Yo-Yo (who guested on AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted) to the head of his own record label and helped produce her debut album, Make Way for the Motherlode.
That was followed by Cube's acting breakout as the grown-up version of Darrin "Doughboy" Baker in the 1991 coming of age crime drama "Boyz in the Hood." Writer and director John Singleton, another LA native, penned the role specifically Cube. Ice Cube was later named "Most Promising Actor" at the 4th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards in 1992, beating out his co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. and newcomer Brad Pitt from "Thelma and Louise."
Cube toured on Lollapalooza in 1992 and widened his fan base. He released The Predator in November (1992) which debuted at #1 on both the pop and rnb charts, the first album in history to do so. For that album, Cube decided to load some G-funk style beats which at that time was the big thing and some remix tunes which brought a new style to Cube, in which previously he had released some hardcore and extreme work. Singles from The Predator included "Today was a Good Day" and "Check Yo Self (remix)" which all had a 2 part music video.
After The Predator, Cube's audience began to diminish. Lethal Injection (1993) was not very well-liked by critics, and Dr. Dre and the West Coast G-Funk sound was dominating hip-hop. It wasn't until later that the album became popular. Taking a break from his own albums, Cube assisted on debuts from Da Lench Mob (Guerillas in the Mist) and Kam (Neva Again). He later dueted with Dr. Dre on "Natural Born Killaz."
Around this time in 1993, Ice Cube also worked with soon-to-be-acclaimed rapper Tupac Shakur with his album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. and appeared on a track with 2pac.
In 1994 Ice Cube released Bootlegs & B-Sides.
During this time, hip-hop started making a transition from the West Coast Funk Hip-Hop to a more gritty East Coast hip-hop. With Mack 10 and WC, Cube formed the Westside Connection in 1996, releasing their debut album Bow Down later that year. This album was in due to Ice Cube's theory that the East Coast lacked respect for West Coast hip-hop. Songs like "Bow Down", and "Gangstas Make The World Go 'Round" make reference to this. Sales were brisk, but it did not establish a large audience. This album was later perceived as a classic, especially on the West Coast. Cube released several more solo albums; however, he is now known more for his movies than his music.
In 1998 Ice Cube released War & Peace Vol 1: The War Disc
In 2000 Ice Cube released War & Peace Vol 2: The Peace Disc
In 2003 Ice Cube along with W.C. & Mack 10 released Terrorist Threats as the West Side Connection.
In December 2004, after a long break from recording, he reached #2 in the UK singles chart with the club favourite, "You Can Do It" (featuring Mack 10 and Ms Toi), released as a single 5 years after it was first included on movie soundtracks such as
Ice Cube was influenced by and took his name from African American pimp-turned-author Iceberg Slim, who published his autobiography Pimp in 1969. At one point, Ice Cube was scheduled to play the lead role in a movie adaptation of Pimp, but the project appears to be halted.
Cube's oldest son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., made his feature film debut in the 2015 N.W.A biopic "Straight Outta Compton," portraying his father.
Fuck 'Em
Ice Cube Lyrics
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[Female Interviewer:]
Please, welcome O'Shea Jackson better known as Ice Cube!
How you doin'?
[Ice Cube:] How you doin'?
[Female Interviewer (male):]
Good to see you.
Well known that the Crips and the Bloods are allegedly coming together.
Yeah, you've been alot in the media lately than other rappers, we'd mentioned earlier Cube, that uhm...
You know? You have been labelled a lota thing.
What do you say to the people with the causal being anti-semitic, (fuck 'em!)
Or anti-careerist?
And, basically a portrait of the violence because of your lyrics, what do you say to them? (fuck 'em!)
It's probably the reason why they say that it's beacause some of the lyrics were...
Aimed at the women, bitches and hoes, and all that.
I wanna talk a little bit about that, too.
Because we saw the parents' discussion about this last time and... (yeah!)
So and brothers, uhm... folks walkin' around, totin' guns, uuuuhm...
All that kinda stuff, do you think that sometimes those images and those lyrics...
Help white folks justify their continual racism againts us, or continue racism against us? (nah!)
[Ice Cube:]
I-I speak... in a perpective as uh... brothers on,..
What we need to do is look in the mirror.
I-I, I do want the white community to understand our community more...
And see what's going on, and see what, what uh... the things they've done to us in the past...
Are still affectin' us now... mentally, you know?
And,.. the reason I said it's because, I mean everything I said about, uh, uuuhm... you know?
Everything I said on records before the riots, you know? Uuuh... (uh-hmm!)
Anything you want to know about the riots...
Was in the records before the riots! All you had to do was go...
To the Ice Cube library and, and, and...
[Female Interviewer:] In, in, in...
[Ice Cube:]
Pick a record and it would have told you.
You know? I've given warnings...
[Female Interviewer:]
So in other words, it's almost like a... war-warning or prophecy?
[Ice Cube:]
I-I've, I've given...
I've given so many warnings on what's going to happen.
If we don't get these, uuh...
These, these things straight in our lives, the clashes the-then, you know?
Armageddon is-is-is, is near! Eheh! [beat stops]
[Movie Bites from "Scarface (1981) ", Al Pacino as Tony Montana speaks:]
This here...
These words all about money.
The song "Fuck 'Em" by Ice Cube features a female interviewer who starts off by welcoming Ice Cube to the show. The interviewer then proceeds to ask questions about Cube's music and the criticism that he has been receiving about his lyrics, particularly in relation to his supposed anti-semitism, anti-careerism, and misogyny. To each of these accusations, Ice Cube succinctly responds with "fuck 'em." He explains that his lyrics are meant to be a reflection of the reality faced by black people in America and that anyone who has a problem with them can go fuck themselves. Cube also goes on to address the issue of gun violence and racism against black people, and he stresses the importance of looking in the mirror and taking responsibility as a community.
The song is a powerful commentary on the state of race relations in America and the role that music can play in bringing attention to important issues. It is also a testament to Ice Cube's uncompromising stance on his art and his willingness to speak his mind, even in the face of controversy.
Line by Line Meaning
Well known that the Crips and the Bloods are allegedly coming together.
It's common knowledge that the Crips and Bloods are possibly joining forces.
You know? You have been labelled a lota thing.
You've been given many labels.
What do you say to the people with the causal being anti-semitic, (fuck 'em!)
What's your response to people who casually accuse you of being anti-semitic? (Forget about them!)
Or anti-careerist?
Or accused of not caring about your career?
And, basically a portrait of the violence because of your lyrics, what do you say to them? (fuck 'em!)
What do you say to those who blame your lyrics for portraying violence? (Screw them!)
It's probably the reason why they say that it's beacause some of the lyrics were...
It's a likely reason why people make such accusations about certain lyrics.
Aimed at the women, bitches and hoes, and all that.
Targeted towards women, calling them bitches and hoes.
do you think that sometimes those images and those lyrics...
Do you believe that certain images and lyrics...
Help white folks justify their continual racism againts us, or continue racism against us? (nah!)
Contribute to white people's ongoing racism towards us? (No!)
I-I speak... in a perpective as uh...
I'm speaking from a perspective of ...
brothers on,..
being a black man.
What we need to do is look in the mirror.
What we need to do is reflect on ourselves.
I do want the white community to understand our community more...
I do want white people to gain an understanding of our black community.
And see what's going on, and see what, what uh...
To see what's happening and how...
the things they've done to us in the past...
The injustices they've enacted against us in the past is still affecting us today mentally.
Are still affectin' us now... mentally, you know?
It's impacting our mental state.
And,.. the reason I said it's because, I mean everything I said about, uh, uuuhm... you know?
That's why I said what I said because I meant everything I've said before about it.
Everything I said on records before the riots, you know? Uuuh...
Everything I proclaimed on my records before the riots.
Anything you want to know about the riots...
If you want to know about the riots...
Was in the records before the riots! All you had to do was go...
All that you needed to know about the riots was in my songs before it happened.
To the Ice Cube library and, and, and...
Just go to the Ice Cube library and...
Pick a record and it would have told you.
Listen to my music and you'll understand.
So in other words, it's almost like a... war-warning or prophecy?
So it's like a warning or prophecy of war?
I've given so many warnings on what's going to happen.
I've already given numerous warnings about the potential future events.
If we don't get these, uuh...
If we don't fix these issues that we face...
These, these things straight in our lives, the clashes the-then, you know?
Get our lives in order and stop fighting amongst ourselves.
Armageddon is-is-is, is near! Eheh! [beat stops]
The coming of Armageddon is near!
This here...
So this saying...
These words all about money.
Is all about the topic of money.
Contributed by Jeremiah Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
RC 005
I can’t get enough of this instrumental
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT, RTD.
Cube stood up for what he said in all his records from 1990 up until this interview was done. If you're an artist and don't stand up for what yo ass say on wax, then fuck outta here. Thanks Cube.
MarkH
Goddammit it was a prophecy
JoE KeRr
Tha's what issallabout Manny...
GTA GAMEPLAY VIDZ
Right.
Greg Campbell
Is that where it's at