AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted

I wonder where hip-hop would be if Ice Cube never got with Bomb Squad & Public Enemy. It’s such a perfect marriage so it had to be one of those things that was just destined to happen. The production with Cube’s flow is like Jack & coke, PB & J, hell, Burgers & fries. Ice Cube showcased his technical flow, his innate ability for storytelling, and you could tell he was just having fun. Which I turn made me have fun listening, love this album and I love the fact that they attached Kill At Will to the end of it too. Got the full version of 1990 Ice Cube!

I came away from this album with a peculiar sense of frustration. Here is some of the most inventive, rhythmically disciplined and downright luxurious funk production I've heard in ages, supporting a rapper of extraordinary technical ability, and yet I can't say that I particularly enjoyed the album as a whole. There are moments of genuine political brilliance, some excellent storytelling and a fair amount of very funny nonsense. Unfortunately, there's also a great deal of misogyny, masculine posturing and provocation that becomes progressively less interesting as the record wears on. What makes this frustrating is that Ice Cube is an absolutely magnificent performer. He has what I can only describe as an actor's clarity. His diction is immaculate, his timing impeccable, and his flow carries an extraordinary sense of authority. Every consonant lands, every rhythmic emphasis is deliberate, and even when he's delivering words at a breathtaking rate, there's scarcely a syllable lost. He doesn't sound as though he's chasing the beat. He inhabits it. He can shift from intimidation to comedy, from conversational storytelling to righteous indignation, without relinquishing that authority for a moment. And the production! The Bomb Squad and Sir Jinx have made something quite remarkable here. What struck me almost immediately was how much of James Brown's rhythmic discipline survives in the arrangements. This isn't simply a matter of sampling funk records. It's an understanding of how funk works: the precise placement of instrumental accents, the relationship between repetition and interruption, the extraordinary tightness that allows apparently complicated arrangements to move as a single organism. Some of the productions are dense with interacting samples, percussion and sound effects. Others are surprisingly spacious. But the important thing is how completely they're integrated with Cube's delivery. His voice becomes another instrument in the ensemble, its rhythmic emphases locked into the arrangements with wonderful precision. Even when the music sounds busy, it never feels disorganised. The opening, *Better Off Dead*, made a surprisingly strong impression. It's a short dramatisation of Cube's execution, but what affected me most wasn't the execution itself. It was the casual use of the word "boy" by a white authority figure addressing a Black man. That one word contains an entire history of racial belittlement, of refusing Black men their adulthood and dignity. The violence is theatrical, but the language is horribly familiar. It's a remarkably economical way to establish the album's concerns. This leads into *The Nigga Ya Love to Hate*, where Cube's extraordinary verbal authority becomes immediately apparent. What's interesting is how comparatively tame some of the confrontation sounds today. Subsequent developments in gangsta rap have considerably altered our sense of what constitutes outrageous language or behaviour. The original shock value has diminished, but the musical craftsmanship is more apparent than ever. The exchanges between voices are fascinating, and Cube's command of dialogue gives the whole thing an almost theatrical structure. The title track offers one of the album's most effective political observations. Its story concerns the different responses to crimes committed against Black and white victims. Violence against Black people is treated as comparatively unremarkable; the machinery of law enforcement becomes considerably more energetic when white victims are involved. The underlying accusation concerns the relative value assigned to different lives, and it's delivered through an engaging criminal narrative rather than a conventional protest song. Musically, it's tremendous. The production has all the tightness of James Brown's funk, and Cube's delivery fits it like another part of the rhythm section. This is the kind of track where the political and musical imaginations work together. *What They Hittin' Foe?* is something much simpler: a little story about winning and losing at a craps game. It has a different swagger, cocky and playful, and shows Cube's ability to establish a situation and populate it with recognisable characters in barely more than a minute. There's no need to impose a grand interpretation upon it. It's an enjoyable miniature. Then comes *You Can't Fade Me*, and here the album becomes considerably more difficult. The song's treatment of pregnancy, paternity and child support is appalling. The contemplation of violence against a pregnant woman as a means of escaping financial responsibility goes considerably beyond the sort of outrageousness I can simply laugh off. What troubles me isn't the profanity, or even the fact that Cube is portraying a thoroughly unpleasant character. It's the way the woman's vulnerability becomes material for entertainment, with precious little apparent distance between the grotesque reasoning and the pleasure we're invited to take in it. I found it genuinely difficult to get past. And the production is absolutely excellent, which almost makes matters worse. At one point I found myself making a rather savage analogy about Hugo Boss uniforms. The point was simply that something can be exquisitely constructed without that construction providing the slightest moral justification for what it represents. Musical excellence isn't moral exoneration. That doesn't mean I suddenly stopped recognising the quality of Cube's performance or the production. Quite the opposite. The conflict arises precisely because those qualities remain so impressive. *Once Upon a Time in the Projects* returns us to Cube the storyteller. It's essentially a wrong-place, wrong-time narrative, with a visit to a woman turning into an increasingly chaotic encounter with a household involved in criminal activity, followed by police intervention. There are several possible ways of developing this story, and one of them is politically very sharp. Cube's credibility evaporates when the police become involved. His explanations carry little weight against the assumptions already being made about him. It's another illustration of the unequal relationship between Black Americans and the authorities. But having constructed this effective observation, Cube concludes with a warning about women from the projects. The social criticism is considerably more perceptive than the lesson he chooses to draw from it. The Betty Davis sample is wonderful, incidentally. Once again, the production is almost indecently good. The short address to the "Oreo cookie", followed by *Turn Off the Radio*, initially reminded me of something I used to hear in London's Asian communities, where the term "coconut" could be used to accuse someone of being culturally white beneath their skin. There are interesting questions here about cultural allegiance and who gets to determine what constitutes authentic membership of a community. But the more substantial argument in Cube's track concerns cultural gatekeeping. He's attacking broadcasters who are happy to play commercially acceptable R&B, with its endless romantic entanglements, while excluding the much less comfortable experiences being articulated through hip-hop. Who decides which aspects of Black culture are suitable for public consumption? Why is one sort of Black experience considered acceptable entertainment while another is regarded as dangerous or offensive? It's a strong argument, and one which doesn't require us to accept everything Cube chooses to say when he's given the microphone. The album reaches its political high point with *Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)*, featuring Chuck D. This was easily my favourite track. Chuck D is magnificent. Where Cube sounds indignant, Chuck D sounds righteous. Cube confronts you personally; Chuck D sounds as though he's delivering a public indictment. Together they make a formidable combination. The writing is particularly incisive. Cube challenges the suggestion that rappers are somehow responsible for the violence surrounding them because of what they say. He could renounce violence tomorrow, but that wouldn't necessarily prevent police violence against Black Americans. Why should the responsibility for changing the situation rest principally with those describing it rather than those exercising coercive power? He also challenges the priorities of people enthusiastically campaigning for Nelson Mandela's freedom while apparently remaining indifferent to oppression within America itself. The argument goes beyond pointing out an inconsistency. He's explicitly questioning the attention given to struggles overseas when the situation at home is so desperate. I don't necessarily accept the implication that domestic and international struggles should compete for sympathy, but I can recognise the force of the challenge. It's confrontational, uncomfortable and thoughtfully constructed. This is Ice Cube at his most impressive: politically engaged, verbally precise and supported by music that gives his argument extraordinary momentum. Unfortunately, the album doesn't maintain that standard. *A Gangsta's Fairytale* is a piece of gloriously disreputable fluff, relocating familiar nursery-rhyme characters into a world of sex, drugs and criminality. I found myself sniggering despite myself. It's essentially the weaponisation of familiar childhood characters, and the ridiculous incongruity is the joke. There's no particular need to make it more profound than that. Sometimes outrageous comedy is simply outrageous comedy. *I'm Only Out for One Thang* is more sexual braggadocio, but Flavor Flav makes an entertaining contribution. After Cube solemnly announces his priorities of sex, money and the microphone, Flav launches into a wonderfully rambling, profane approximation of an oath of allegiance. It made me laugh. Cube supplies the masculine pomposity and Flav cheerfully punctures it. The extravagantly titled *Get Off My Dick and Tell Yo Bitch to Come Here* is actually less objectionable than its title suggests, being principally concerned with dismissing critics and people attempting to dictate what Cube should do. It demonstrates that obscenity isn't necessarily the same thing as misogyny, and that context matters. *The Drive-By* is considerably more effective than its brief running time might suggest. Its little drama of casual conversation, ordinary background activity and sudden gunfire illustrates how violence becomes normalised when it is concentrated within communities whose suffering attracts insufficient attention. This prompted me to think about Northern Ireland during the Troubles. One reason prolonged violence can become politically tolerable is that its burden falls unevenly. When influential sections of society are relatively insulated from the daily consequences, the pressure to achieve a resolution can be correspondingly weaker. That isn't offered as a complete explanation of the Troubles, but the relationship between social power, exposure to violence and the urgency of intervention seems particularly relevant. The point isn't simply how many people are suffering. It's whose suffering commands sufficient influence to make the continuation of violence politically intolerable. And that's precisely the observation running through several of Cube's strongest tracks. A society can declare itself opposed to violence while remaining remarkably comfortable with its persistence among people who have little power to demand otherwise. *The Drive-By* makes that point through sound and dramatic construction rather than an explicit political speech. It's all the more effective for it. *Rollin' Wit the Lench Mob* offers little beyond an assertion of collective toughness, but the production is delightful. Its rolling P-Funk groove demonstrates that the producers can be just as effective with a relatively straightforward arrangement as with their more densely layered constructions. Sometimes a terrific groove is enough. *Who's the Mack?* is another highlight, particularly musically. The production is absolutely luxurious, and the storytelling has rather more going on than initially appears. Cube examines different forms of hustling and manipulation, but importantly he also acknowledges having fallen for them himself. The supposedly streetwise narrator is prepared to admit that he's been the mark. This gives the track a genuine moral dimension. He's not simply describing dishonest behaviour from a position of superior wisdom. He's implicating himself in the world he's examining. It's a more interesting form of storytelling than another assertion of invulnerability. *It's a Man's World*, featuring Yo-Yo, is an outrageous exercise in verbal sparring between the sexes. Yo-Yo performs extremely well and gives as good as she gets, but I couldn't find much more in it than a succession of increasingly extravagant insults. It isn't really an examination of misogyny, nor does the presence of a capable female opponent resolve the attitudes expressed elsewhere. My eventual response was essentially: suit yourselves. By this point I was becoming rather weary of the whole thing. Not because the music had deteriorated — it hadn't — but because the album seemed to have spent substantially more time on sexual boasting, masculine posturing and provocation than on the political observations I found genuinely compelling. The closing *The Bomb* almost rescues matters through sheer physical excitement. The pace is breathtaking. Cube's delivery accelerates without sacrificing the clarity that has impressed me throughout, and the music generates an almost unbearable sense of mounting pressure. Crucially, that acceleration serves the underlying message. Things are going to blow. A society cannot endlessly subject communities to violence, deprivation and institutional indifference without consequences. The music sounds as though it's approaching critical mass, making the warning a physical experience rather than merely a lyrical statement. It's a tremendously effective ending. But an effective ending doesn't necessarily make an effective album. What I find myself returning to is the enormous disparity between the consistency of the musical craftsmanship and the inconsistency of the writing. Cube's diction, authority, timing and rhythmic intelligence are remarkable throughout. The Bomb Squad and Sir Jinx have created a succession of productions that remain thrillingly inventive, disciplined and funky. I could listen to much of this music for its own sake, regardless of the words. Yet the lyrical material repeatedly loses my interest, or actively repels me. The strongest political arguments are genuinely powerful, but they're surrounded by a considerable amount of material that seems primarily concerned with asserting masculine dominance or provoking a reaction. And I don't think this is simply a matter of judging a 1990 album by the sensibilities of 2026. Misogyny wasn't invented as a criticism in the intervening years, and the fact that something was provocative in its own time doesn't automatically make it interesting now. Some of the material has lost its shock value; other parts remain unpleasant without becoming any more illuminating. Nor is this a rejection of transgressive art. I enjoyed the filthy absurdity of *A Gangsta's Fairytale* and Flavor Flav's ridiculous comic interventions. The problem isn't that the album offends me. It's that too much of its outrageousness doesn't seem to accomplish very much. Perhaps the most telling contradiction is that Cube can be extraordinarily perceptive about the ways Black people are dehumanised, misrepresented and denied dignity, yet show comparatively little curiosity about the humanity of women within his own stories. His political intelligence is real, but it isn't applied consistently. That doesn't invalidate his observations about racism. It does complicate the admiration I might otherwise feel for the album. Ultimately, I admire *AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted* considerably more than I enjoy it. It contains exceptional production, a magnificent vocal performance and occasional moments of political brilliance. *Endangered Species* alone demonstrates what happens when all those qualities work towards a genuinely substantial argument. But I found myself increasingly unmoved by the album as a whole, despite remaining continually impressed by how it sounded. The musical imagination consistently exceeds the lyrical imagination. An important record, undoubtedly, and at times an exhilarating one. But historical importance isn't the same thing as personal engagement, and I can't manufacture enthusiasm simply because the craftsmanship deserves recognition. I respect it enormously. I don't particularly want to revisit it.

Holds up better than I expected, though I get tired of the relentless misogyny. And it's weird that he'd sample Fuck tha Police on his first solo album. Like, we know! We just heard that one! What else you got?

I was trying so hard to be open minded but then he started literally rapping nursery rhymes and I pretty much lost it.

⚪️ moderately BANGS, and much of that can be attributed to production by The Bomb Squad and Sir Jinx. Cube's flow and lyricism aren't that impressive, but his voice, presence and presentation always have been. It works better on faster tracks than slower ones. Fav tracks: Amerikkka's Most Wanted The Bomb

Ice Cube is a far better actor than rapper.

i hate this old school rap, 3/10

Once Upon a Time has a great funky instrumental. Hard rhymes.. some of which aren't in great taste, which can be expected for this era of gangsta rap. Gets kinda samey after a bit, but a solid 3.2/5.

Sigh I guess it's the same as the Biggie review. It's great, it's brilliant, it expands your mind, and you can feel its historical significance. But I'm sure I'll play Radiohead 100 times before I'd come back to it. It just doesn't fit any musical mood in my world, so it's not a 5 for me.

Favorite track(s): The N*gga Ya Love to Hate, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, Once Upon a Time in the Projects, Endangered Species (Tales From the Darkside), Who's the Mack? You know what would make this album better? Saving the world from aliens with Amazon.

This got more "bitches" than a Smosh video. I mean, what did I expect? This is west-coast hip hop, it has all that. This is a 3 mostly because of that and a lot of the pretty good songs could be longer instead of one or two minutes. And I really thought that the Bomb Squad-Public Enemy thing would blow this project out the water, but it didn't really do too much for me. Bitch, bitch, bitch (6/10, 3/5 on this scale)

I'm sure this album was groundbreaking when it came out, but listening to it 36 years later, I just didn't find much that interested me. I've enjoyed my share of '90s hip-hop, but it's not a genre I'm particularly interested in exploring further at this point in my life. I realize someone hearing my favorite classic rock albums for the first time today might feel exactly the same way. There's nothing particularly unpleasant about this record, but ultimately it felt like an album I didn't need to hear.

Great beats and great flow. I'm not the target audience for the lyrics and I can't relate, and that's fine. 4 stars

Šiaip tikrai neblogas, įdomus pasiklausyti, bte vietonis bereikalingai žiaurus.

Angry, crude, a far cry from the guy who's made more than a couple children's movies.

Yeah, a good album.

#302/1001 🇺🇸 Sorry, you lost me at the bit about kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach. The important messages in this album are lost when Cube shows himself as a misoginist and bigot. Best tracks: ....

more angry black shit from an angry black man. how many of these do we have to sit through?

While it's largely an engaging album, with decent instrumentals, enjoyable production, solid flow and all that, the lyrical content with regards to misogyny knocks it down a peg for me.

There’s some good stuff here and he’s a good lyricist but not stand out suprisingly

Bomb Squad is on point, as always. This is a really good record, but not quite five stars for me - it's hard to imagine this be something I put on repeat given the sheer density of misogyny.

Ice Cube is a perfectly competent rapper, and that is definitely evident from listening to this album. But I just can't look past how generic this is outside of his talent as a rapper. It just sounds like every other hip hop album from the 90s, hate the police, power to the people, all important things don't get me wrong, but did rappers in the 90s have literally anything else to talk about? I'm just getting bored of this kind of music to be honest, and there are just so many other hip hop albums from the 90s that get the message across way better than this album does, and in a way that actually keeps me captivated.

Maybe not the greatest album of all time, but the anaconda slayer sure does know how to create a vibe. I listened to this while walking to and through the grocery store in queens on Halloween. Passing adults dressed up as grim reapers and such, I’m not certain many other albums could’ve set the right tone. At the same time, maybe if it’s a sunny day and you’re driving through the countryside without a care in the world, you might think this tone is whacked out.

Some of it was great, other parts of it were problematic. I like Ice Cube's flow. A Gangsta's Fairytale was pretty funny. Yo-Yo is a BAMF and I'd love to hear more of her music.

may need to do another listen but 2 (2.7?)

I knew this one was going to be interesting when the second most relevant keyword was "misogyny". So, he was 21 when this album released and even talks in the album about being in gangs but stepping away to follow rap. For me these are very key bits of information when I listen to this. Still doesn't really justify the song about kicking a pregnant woman, and the worst part is the beat and chorus sound good but the rhymes got me pulling some pretty horrendous faces. For me, this album is good, and a few of the other reviews talk well about basically how I feel about this album. At points there is a seriously strong album in here, some great beats and Ice Cube is a fantastic frontman for an album, not incredibly complex in his rhythm or flow but certainly distinctive. Also holy hell, the beats and production are really good, immensely funky and clean. Topically there's lots in this album that I really like, NWA were at their best both together and apart when they were sharing politically charged lyrics from a perspective of experience. Endangered Species might be my favourite in vein, sampling and quoting Straight Outta Compton. Also to note this is his first solo work, after writing SOC at the age of like 18/19. While you can absolutely discuss the style and some of the topics negatively it's undeniable that Ice Cube was doing incredible work with his opportunities at a very early age, and was definitely a powerful force in the direction of early rap. If you have a vague appreciation for rap or can tune out the lyrics I would still suggest this album almost entirely for the instrumentals and beats, like on Who's the Mack. If you actively like rap this is a good listen with lots to love, even if it doesn't quite reach the peaks of NWA's previous works. Best song(s): The N-Word you Love to Hate, Endangered Species Worst Song(s): N/A Rank compared to everything else so far: 62/84 (above Don't Stand Me Down, below Want Two)

Pretty good! Enjoyed more than I thought. I also find it hilarious how R rated this is compared to his family friendly turn later in life.

++: Better Off Dead, The Nigga Ya Love to Hate, Once Upon a Time in the Projects, Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside), I'm Only Out for One Thang, The Drive-By +: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, What They Hittin' Foe?, You Can't Fade Me/JD's Gaffilin', Turn Off the Radio?, Who's the Mack?, It's a Man's World, The Bomb +-: A Gangsta's Fairytale, Rollin' wit the Lench Mob -: Get Off My Dick and Tell Yo Bitch to Come Here 6,0/10

Gute 90s Amirap Musik für die klassische Skateladen Experience. Mehr nicht.

idk mann ist just kinda there

There’s a song where Ice Cube contemplates inducing an abortion by kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach just so he won’t have to pay child support

3.5

A bit full on, and in parts misogynistic, but not too bad

I could tell it was produced by the Bomb Squad from the start, which says something about journey we've been on with hip hop. The song structures remain much the same as on Straight Outta Compton, but the sound is more abrasive. That doesn't do much to make it more enjoyable and, even Ice Cube seems to recognise that the one-dimension of gangsta rapping was already tired by 1990, as he exhausts the same rhymes and rhythms as on the NWA debut. When he has people shouting "Fuck you, Ice Cube" on the opening track, you know that he knows that it's all for show. When NWA - or Public Enemy for that matter - do it as a gang, there is a sense of fun and dynamic, but this one-man show is tedious, setting a template for later one-man shows - no one to back you up, no one to hype you, no one to contraditct, just monologues with the occasional invited, vetted guest. No wonder Eminem had to split himself into three personae to get even the smallest mileage out of The Marshall Mathers LP. 1 I don’t want to be merely curt and dismissive, so I have taken several swings at a ‘review’ of Ice Cube’s album this morning. Ice Cube supplies nothing to observe that I haven’t observed before about other rap albums, so why repeat it? I didn’t have much respect for rap before we began this project and after, honestly, properly listening to what must now be a couple of dozen albums I have surely lost it all. This must be rock bottom. Here’s yet another hour of a one-setting clown with all the perspective and poetic instinct of an earthworm. Get in the bin. 0/5

A couple of Gangsta rap albums in a row - although different, they feel very similar to me. I like the energy and the anger but the slurs and the appalling descriptions of women are troubling. Its a guilty, enjoyable listen.

Ice T yesterday and now Ice Cube! What are the chances?! Copy and paste, not into gagster rap, sick and tired of the misogyny blah blah.

3.619871142760258

It's tough to rate this because it's not something I would ever listen to for fun, but I can still appreciate it and why I'm sure it landed on this list. As hinted by the title, it's dense with socio-political commentary. I respect the message and imagine it sparked backlash about the topics he raps about, and in doing so, forced a level of self-reflection and debate. It feels so rare nowadays to find music that has anything close to this depth. Everything today is produced for mass consumption, and we miss out on the opportunity to self-reflect. I believe that music can change culture as much as it can reflect it, and this album exemplifies that.

did not enjoy this sorry mr cube

I am not into gangsta rap at all but at times I did find this enjoyable. However the constant glorification of drug use, violence and dicks did wear a bit thin. So I will probably never listen to this again sorry.

🤯

Swagger and lyricism, but no fun

I started losing the plot somewhere around 'Get Off My Dick And Tell Yo Bitch To Come Here' and never found my way back.

Was good, it feels corny now. Like an snl sketch about being gangsta. Still had a couple bangers

Weird album but pretty good

Al principio cuando vi el album dije, esto me va a gustar. Para mi sorpresa resultó ser totalmente monótono y aburrido

I'm not into gangsta rap at all. I can understand how people in that world appreciate it. And this is clearly well done. But the glorification of drugs, violence, misogyny, and narcissism is just stomach turning to me. This was a chore.

The misogyny hasn’t aged this the best but there’s way worse than this at the time even and it’s a still a really good solo debut with some hard hitting songs featured like the intro song whose name I can’t repeat

I'm not a fan of rap or hip hop (which is what this is), but the beats are usually okay. This album has more old-school beats, probably because it's from the 90s. The lyrical content is gangster-related and sexist with a few skits (not excessive) throughout, and Ice Cube is the main vocalist (not always the case; excluding the song "It's A Man's World"). Not the best rap album I've heard on this generator by a long shot.

This did not age very well unfortunately, haha. It was an interesting time capsule! I found the lyrics to be entertaining and a little silly. Musically, this didn't grab me. Production, storytelling, and flow were all just okay. I would not listen to this again. Favorite Tracks: AmeriKKKA's Most Wanted

I Heard Payback's A Motherfuckin' Nigga 1001 Albums Generator 372 (10/15/2026) Amerikkka's Most Wanted is interesting from a historical perspective, since it points back to a time when well-to-do white people were tricked into thinking that gangbanging is "cool" and "hip". There's also some good production, like on What They Hittin' Fo and Endangered Species. However, lyrically, I'm pretty much diametrically opposed to the lifestyle that Ice Cube is pushing on this album, and normally lyrics don't bother me, but this is such a lyrics-forward album, that they are impossible to ignore. In addition to the rappin' about killing cops and robbing white people, you've got a song where Ice Cube says that the only reason he wouldn't kick a pregnant woman in the stomach is because he'd get arrested for first degree murder. Now, honestly, there is some gangsta-oriented rap that I like, especially a lot of old Memphis stuff, but most of this album does nothing for me. A few songs here are good enough for me to be able to enjoy them in spite of their lyrical content, but a lot of it is kind of basic gangsta rap. 2/5. Favs: The Nigga Ya Love To Hate What They Hittin' Fo? Endangered Species (Tales From The Darkside) Least Fav: The Drive-By

No comment

AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was a pretty decent hip-hop album. Ice Cube is apart of NWA so the beats, production and lyrical themes definitely seem to match that. The beats and production have that 80s old school hip-hop vibe to them and the lyrics primarily cover racism from the cops like the NWA album did. Key word being primarily because unfortunately, Ice Cube does rap about his dick sometimes and i seriously hate when rappers do that. However, the music is still pretty good and the lyrics even if they aren't the greatest, definitely feel pretty self-aware. This album was pretty solid and definitely far better than the Ice i got yesterday. Best Song: Endangered Species (Tales From The Darkside) Worst Song: It's A Man's World

Rating: 4.7/5 Short Review: Ice Cube came out of N.W.A. absolutely furious, and you can hear it on every track. The Bomb Squad’s chaotic, sample-heavy production is incredible, giving the album this relentless, almost claustrophobic energy. It’s politically charged, confrontational, occasionally funny, and genuinely unsettling. Not always an easy listen, but a phenomenal solo debut. Favorite Track: The Nigga Ya Love to Hate

It's fun. I guess it's a product of it's times.

Huh, this could be great. It has some really beefy beats that I love, I enjoyed some of the lyrics on here - Endangered Species really made me do a double take. Yes, many of the lyrics on here are every shade of mysoginistic and hard to endure and unexcusable. But somehow I buy that this is a character Ice Cube created to portrait a specific socio-cultural environment - more than I buy it from B.I.G. or Eminem, for example. But still, the misogyny probably will prevent me from returning to the album. Musically, it's also too long - both on an individual-track level and as a whole album. There isn't much happening here production-wise that kept me engaged. Maybe shorter songs and a punchier tracklist would've helped.

this was solid. enjoyable to listen to on a long highway drive. ig my only two things are 1. a lot of the songs sound kind of similar, but some stood out to me such as "you can't fade me/JD's gaffilin'" and "once upon a time in the projects" 2. i may or may drop this down to a 2 based on further research, at this time i can't tell if ice cube is crazy misogynistic at points or if he's supposed to be playing a misogynistic *character* (particularly during "it's a man's world").

3.5

I didn't really grow an appreciation for rap until I was in my 20s, and it still doesn't account for most of my musical listening. This album in particular, I think my enjoyment comes from the delivery. It's the rap equivalent of shock rock. The crudeness and vulgarity, the misogyny and violence in the lyrics, it's meant to make the listener pay attention. It's a gritty and real street-level rant about the problems rampant in the US at the time. People who are upset by the lyrics, or how angry Ice Cube is when singing, are missing the point. We're supposed to be upset, we're being slapped in the face with facts of life for a demographic that the public generally didn't want to listen to or acknowledge. So, in that sense, mission accomplished. As for my personal enjoyment, I am a bigger fan of the beats, but do enjoy the poetry in the lyrics. And Ice Cube has a style of delivery that allows each word to land cleanly. This album definitely belongs on the list, no doubt.

I couldn't get through this album because the misogyny is nauseating. And look, I get that a lot of people only notice misogyny in rap music but go ahead and look through my reviews and you'll see that I'm *always* pointing out the misogyny in all kinds of music. Kings of Leon, The Rolling Stones and Dwight Yoakam come to mind. Misogyny has NO place in good music, no matter the genre.

This was not made for me. it's good for what it is, but I didn't care for much of it.

I’m incredibly conflicted with this. I enjoy the energy, the passion and the conviction together with the fact that NWA and Public Enemy issued in effectively a whole new genre. But the misogyny and subject matter as a whole leaves me cold. However ironic (or not) you are meant to take it.

started off promising, but no

It’s still just not for me.

Didn't care for most of it but turn off the radio is hilarious

Nej det här var inte så bra. Eller så var jag inte på humör.

I'm not really sure we needed two Ice Cube albums in this collection, but if I had to choose just one, I think this debut album outdoes his slightly later "The Predator", probably just on the strength of The Bomb Squad's involvement as producer. The lyrics are just as hit or miss on this album, and they miss more often than not, aside from some perceptive and insightful commentaries on the more political tracks like "Once upon a time in the projects" or "Endangered species". And PE's Bomb Squad does a nice job of injecting a more musical bent to a lot of the tracks (something I really missed on "The Predator"); "Who's the mack?" is probably the distinctive of the lot in that regard. It's hard to ignore all the gratuitous swearing and sexism/misogyny, though, and that helps drag it down more than it needs, but I guess that's part of Ice Cube's value proposition?

Trash

Big fan of the beats, the rest is kinda whatever, but man those beats are great

I get why this type of hip-hop is so important and I truly enjoyed watching Straight Out of Compton when it came out, but I can't imagine playing Ice Cube on purpose ever again. I hope there isn't another of his albums on this list, honestly.

Not sure Cube's rapping skills warrant a second addition to this list, but the production is solid and it's a fine debut album that portrays a picture of life as a Black man in the 80s/90s

ICONIC. Can’t say I agree with many of the themes but the energy and power of the album is undeniable

While this message attempts to be profound when offering a critique of society in terms of black rights, the blatant and unnecessary commentary on misogyny make the original point feel moot. 6/10 [DROP]

The producer was going crazy with this. Whole album felt like a documentary mixed with Ice cube's super power to call a woman a bitch this many times. Although Cube was talking about some stupid shit at some times, when he's angry about something, like the massive racism that there was in that era, I could really feel angry with him. -2.5 stars for the extremely excessive name calling for the women

The chubby little guy from Are We There Yet had some sick bars

Not my favorite.

Нормальный олдскульный рэп, ничего особенного. Возможно в контексте воспринимался лучше 6/10

Vidjela sam ime albuma i ponadala se jer i ja ameriku zovem ameriKKKa, reko bit će nešto anti-američko, kad ono samo se lik dere kako mrzi žene, razočaravajuće.

One of the Ice Cube albums of all time. Every song sounds like Ice Cube. I probably won't seek it out but I wouldn't skip any song if it autoplayed

standard rap, long imo

Ice Cube is good in small doses, which is why he's so good in N.W.A but I don't think he can really carry a solo record, and he kinda sucks in general. 4/10

Nah, not my jam.

The music is mostly good, but the lyrics makes it for a tough listen. That day was not a good day.

Production is great - prime Bomb Squad stuff - but damn, this is misogynistic as fuck.

What's all the hub-bub? Understand it historical reference, but still.. not my bag

this has some insane tunes

misogony is soo lame lol

The delivery is all on the same level. Different sounds and back beats but he delivers everything the same!

Basic production, basic rapping. Corny too. The worst tracks are the ones where Ice Cube tells a made up story with an unnecessary amount of detail. I get that there's a kayfabe culture around gangster rappers, but some of these tracks are so performative that I can't suspend my disbelief.

This album is incredibly date, but it still sounds really good.

Mucho fuck the police y gangster rap…como que siempre maneja la misma tonada pero aún así agarra buena nivel y rimas chingonas

Not my thing at all.

Great delivery. Really heavy beats and loads of energy.

He may be a great rapper (I wouldn't know) but I prefer his comedic acting.

Ice Cubes vocals on here are on point I like his rap style and most songs have a great beat to them and flow well. I just got a bit bored of gangsta rap and the fake gun shots before most tracks

Didn’t really enjoy this.

Seems good, but honestly I’m too old for this.

Is it a kind of cheeky self promotion? Because I get the context, but this album is surely a pushback. The thing is, the more "gangsta" and "anti-system" this album tries to get (and the hip-hop genre in general), the more horrendous and insulting it becomes. And, sure, I am not necessarily asking for something easy to face when I start listening to an album, I like confronting music. But this is not confrontational, this is not a hard album to get into, it is a pretty vulgar and tasteless album. There are nice things, some nice topics to cover, but the delivery is just bad. First of all, because of the repetitiveness of the songs – enlarged until they become boring. And, then, because the only interesting thing this album can have are the lyrics (so unnecessary at many times) and the production (great at some points, but so dated at some parts too). So, what does it have? A big ego that can defend the album at some points but that is that huge that ignores what is simply uninteresting. Sometimes having a message is not enough for making a song good. I won't tell you about a whole album.

una porquería

“No, I'm just a struggling Black man trying to keep my dick hard in a cruel and harsh world.” Do the Right Thing (1989)