Ice Cube’s third album and it is an aural smack to the face, as he spits and rages about inequality, the treatment of blacks in American society, injustice and police brutality over hard hitting beats. This is more than a classic 90s hip hop album - it’s a protest album in the best tradition of, say, Bob Dylan and it lends the project a satisfying cohesiveness as he responds to the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King and the violence that erupted in LA. A few things jar - the homophobia, antisemitism and misogyny are disappointing (although Cube would argue his views are more complex). And whilst a few tracks don’t quite hit the heights and could happily be discarded (Gangsta’s Fairytale 2, Dirty Mack), cuts like Check Yo Self, Now I Gotta Wet Ya and the immortal It Was A Good Day (one of the greatest tracks of the Nineties) more than compensate.