First to Azorica, how can you say that Ice Cube isn't known for the West Coast. I know your from New York but does NWA ring a bell. Nothing personal but come on man. Ice Cube is a very big part of the West Coast scene and still is. With this album it dosn't beat the classic albums like Amerikka's Most Wanted or The Predtor, but it still is a great Cube album. You don't get alot of that raw sound like the old Cube albums but you do get some gret beats and some tight lyrics. Some of the best songs on this album are Why We Thugs, Smoke Some Weed, and Stop Snitchin. I especially love Go To Church featuring Snoop and Lil Jon. I'm not a big fan of Lil Jon but that beat is tight. The song I can say I really didn't care for is Chrome and Paint. It's the beat to that song that klls it for me. Is it better than the Peace Album? Hell yeah it is. I still hope that Dr.Dre will produce an Ice Cube album and a N.W.A. reunion. It's been six years since we heard new material from Cube(3 if you want to count the Westside Connection album Terrorist Threats) but to be gone a long time and making nothing but movies you got to give up to Cube for still having it in him. And hopefully we won't have to wait another six years for another Cube album.
I had no idea Cube had a new album coming out until I came across it on Amazon last week. Awesome! Anyway, looking at the liner notes, we've got about a half dozen different producers here and not a single track done by Dre. What's up with that?! Last I heard, Cube's next album was supposed to come out from Aftermath, but this came out on his own Lench Mob label. Oh well...those complaints aside, this is a pretty good album. It might even be my favorite since Death Certificate. He seems to have abandoned that lame-o Don Mega alter ego and gotten back to his roots a bit more, railing against The Man. Production, aside from a couple tracks, is amazing. Scott Storch's stuff is awesome. I'm also glad to see it's not loaded with guest stars like a lot of rap albums these days. I think he's got Snoop on 2 tracks and WC on one (which I think was produced by Crazy Toones). Lil' Jon even did a couple, but refrained from using his usual Crunk sound. Overall, I like this album a lot and that's based on only one listen so far.
I think this cd is bangin. I think he made a comeback. for y'all haters out what he is sayin on this record is the truth. if the brothers isn't listening to what he is saying something is wrong with you.
This is a classic Ice Cube album. Almost every song on the CD is banging! Props to Ice Cube for coming back with a great album after all these years.
...that Ice Cube is back to lay out some real rap. True rap like this is hard to find these days, and I only get it from original artists like him. Not some soft "Grillz" with Paul Wall and Nelly. If you're someone who considers Paul Wall "rap" and you're just NOW getting into the genre, you're better off just sticking with whatever junk you were listening to before.
If you're just starting to listen to Cube and Snoop Dogg and Redman etc. just to be "cool", you shouldn't be listening to true rappers anyway.
OK now that the [...] have turned off their computers, I wanna dissect this album. "Laugh Now, Cry Later" may have been considered average if this was 1994, for example. But these days with losers like Yung Joc trying to rap, I'm drinkin the Kool-Aid and lovin' it.
Track #1-Intro
#2-Absolute banger. Cube speaks as if it's a State of the Union address.
#3-Catchy and fun to listen to; the kinda junk that today's bling-bling rappers get stuck on. But I do like his Ricky Williams reference.
#4-Hilarious Mike Epps skit.
#5-Cube reminds me that he's the only "king in this rap thing" and disses today's pointless rappers. Intense track. I love it.
#6-I love all the voice inserts, reminds me of the beginning of 2Pac's "To Live and Die in L.A."
#7-Decent track, makes me wanna get in my car and roll around downtown.
#8-I love it! An example of how Cube can modernize a rap message.
#9-I love it. Hard-hitting, kind of a prelude to Track #10.
#10-Kind of like part 2 of track #9. I love it. Snoop Dogg begins the track with a quote that may scare off idiots like Paul Wall. Excellent production by Lil Jon, who adds his serious party-type ATL flavor.
#11-The scariest song on the album. I love it 'cuz it grabs my attention. A throwback to the '90s, before rap got too commercialized. Cube could've released this in 1996 and no one would've known the difference. I like when he disses George W. Bush. Honestly, I think I could do a better job than that numbskull.
#12-OK.
#13-Happy overture, but filler.
#14-Filler.
#15-OK.
#16-Filler.
#17-OK.
#18-Filler. Catchy "baby baby drop it like it's hott" junk.
#19-MY favorite song. I wish it would be a radio smash. Perfect for relaxing with. Cube puts "vultures" in their place because those fools have never even made their own demo. lol. That's also what I think when I see posers walking around, with no actual hip-hop background. At stoplights, I rewind that "vulture" lyric to remind fakers that they're better off listening to Fabolous. Tell 'em, Cube.
#20-Great closing track, produced by Lil Jon. Fools sometimes tell me that Lil Jon is another aimless bling-bling rapper, but Jon's point is just to deliver hard club-hoppin' beats with a message that he can't be messed with. That's it. It's 2006, how else is hardcore rap gonna evolve??
So, buy it. Cherish it till Cube comes back again. And please, stay away from today's pointless rappers.
