Ice Cube

AmreiKKKa’s Most Wanted

In an age when gangsta rap legends like Snoop Dogg film cameos in Muppet movies and Dr. Dre hawks Coors Light it’s refreshing to listen to the seemingly ancient albums that actually “scared parents.”

Ice Cube has recently gone legit with the PG-13 Barbershop, featuring frank but slightly muted racial commentary. However, not long ago Cube was releasing albums like AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted where the racial commentary is anything but muted.

On this rap classic Cube comments on everything from police to pregnancy.

He rarely dulls the razor-sharp tongue that at its time was only matched by contemporaries Dre and Easy-E.

Cube also proved to be a master of recognizing his own unpopularity in some America’s elder circles long before Eminem did. Most notably on opening track “The Nigga Ya Love To Hate” a chorus of “Fuck you Ice Cube” is peppered with laughs from the cocky MC.

What makes this album legendary is the humor weaved through the unflinching rhymes. “Once upon a Time in Projects,” later covered by Redman, is nothing short of hilarious. But it is also surprisingly poignant with lines like “His little sister looked like she needed her ass kicked/ Just 13 and already pregnant.”

Take that Kermit.

Stars: five out of five

Genre: Original Gangsta Rap

Next of Kin: Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy

Published on February 24, 2003 at 12:00 pm