Ice Cube

Ice Cube Says 'Put Your Money On' L.A. Lakers In NBA Finals

07 Jun 2010 15:18:48 EDT

The West Coast MC and superfan roots for the purple-and-gold, gripes about unreliable refs.
By Shaheem Reid

Ice Cube
Photo: MTV News

Legendary West Coast mic enforcer Ice Cube is excited that the NBA Finals are upon us, but he feels that there may be something shady going on to make sure the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics series is extended as far as it can go. MTV News recently talked ball with Cube, and he insisted his beloved Lake show are the superior team, but the Cs may have some help from the boys-in-stripes, making some shady rulings inevitable during game play.

"It's gonna take [NBA Commissioner] David Stern to stop telling these refs how to ref these games," Cube said, when asked what he thought it would take for the Lakers to repeat as NBA Champions. "I don't know if they telling them how to ref these games, but it's just ridiculous sometimes when I see these refs making sure that the series is extended. Games are leaned towards this team or that team. Every year is the same old dance. Everybody can pick two or three games where you knew the league had their hand in it." True to Cube's gripes, there were several questionable calls made during Game 2 of the finals Sunday night at the Staples Center, home of the Lakers. Even the team has had their complaints in the past about the finals officiating. Despite the refs' calls, Cube said he felt confident his team will triumph over Boston, just like they did over the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals. "What about the Celtics?" Cube asked with a grin. "They can't beat us four times without help either. They need help from the refs too. Did you see Game 2, when we played them in the finals that year [2008]? Game 2 was ridiculous. Ridiculous! It's the same thing. It ain't about the series. It's about 'Will it go to Game 6 or Game 7?' That's all the league care about." Still, Cube said it's purple-and-gold — all the way. "You sound like you got some doubt," he said like the superfan he is. "Let me put that to rest. We got the team to win it all this year. Put your money on the Lakers." The Lakers and Celtics play Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night. Who are you rooting for in the NBA Finals? Are you a die-hard Lakers fan like Cube? Tell us in the comments!

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Lollapalooza Lookback 1992: Ice Cube Looks To Get 'Buck Wild'

04 Aug 2010 06:50:56 EDT

'I think everybody's going to come out with an open mind,' the rapper said before playing for the fest's mostly white crowds.
By James Montgomery

Ice Cube
Photo: MTV News

With the 2010 edition of Lollapalooza set to kick off Friday, MTV News decided to dive deep into our archives and dig up the greatest/ weirdest/ scariest/ downright rocking-est moments in the fest's rather epic history. We're calling it "Lollapalooza Lookback," and we think it's a pretty fitting tribute to the granddaddy of American music festivals. We've already tackled Pearl Jam's 1992 afternoon set and Nine Inch Nails' stage-trashing high jinks from 1991; now, we're checking in with Ice Cube, who took the stage in '92 on a mission. 1992: Ice Cube Aims High, Hits Hard

One of Lollapalooza's greatest legacies is that it was the first touring festival to bring rap music to the suburbs. On the first tour, Perry Farrell fearlessly booked Ice-T (backed by Body Count, who would very shortly be embroiled in controversy over their "Cop Killer" song), and then, in '92, he followed it up by locking in Ice Cube, who had already shocked and awed many with albums like AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted and Death Certificate — and would soon blow away mainstream audiences with The Predator. But, in the summer of '92, Cube was still largely unknown to white audiences — or, more correctly, they only knew what they read about him. And that tended to be very, very bad. So, really, Farrell was being beyond brave when he inked Cube to the main stage. It was the kind of move that's commonplace these days, but back in the early '90s, it wasn't. Until Lollapalooza, of course. Still, Cube couldn't have predicted any of this. And, as he told MTV News at an early Lolla date in July 1992, he almost passed on playing the festival — until he got some advice from a friend. "Basically, I talked to Ice-T, and he was telling me about Lollapalooza and how it was good ... and I heard they wanted to get me on there, you know, and he was telling me, 'Fans who have never seen you play before that have been wanting to see you play may be scared to go to a rap concert. It would be cool,' " Cube said. "[He said] 'You should go out and see. ... Everything's done so professionally, and you should go out and experience it,' so I was like, 'I'm down, I'm with that.' " And so, he signed on. Still, he didn't quite know what he was in for. After all, these would be the largest white audiences he'd played for in America. But he was up for the challenge. "I was like, 'You know, I know the crowd is going to be mostly white,' but [T] said it's like Europe. And the white kids in Europe go buck wild for rap concerts, so I'm definitely with that," Cube said. "I think everybody's going to come out with an open mind, and they're going to be willing to learn about all the groups out here, including the rap groups. I want people to understand the young black male, how it is living in the United States and the pain and hurt we feel. ... I might learn a thing or two, also. I haven't seen any of these bands play, and you can't teach until you learn." Make sure to come back Thursday, when we reveal another Lollapalooza Lookback. Plus, MTV News' Lollapalooza Live will be streaming Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 5 p.m. right here on MTV.com.

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Ice Cube Explains Dr. Dre's I Am The West Absence

30 Aug 2010 19:44:49 EDT

'I don't feel bad, because Snoop can't find him either,' Cube laughs.
By Jayson Rodriguez

Ice Cube
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — Ice Cube might rep the West on his new album, appropriately titled I Am the West, but the legendary Left Coast rapper is missing one important link: Dr. Dre. The former N.W.A groupmates weren't able to connect on Cube's project, slated for release independently September 21. Ice Cube said his and Dre's schedules weren't able to align.

"I didn't get a chance to work with Dre on this record," Cube told MTV News from Skyline Studios in Manhattan, where he previewed his album for press. "He's been M.I.A. for two to three months now. But I don't feel bad, because Snoop can't find him either," he laughed. "I think, really, it's because people expect so much from him," he continued. "People expect, when Dre does a record, it [will] change the trajectory of music. Not just be an album and it come out and be good. It has to come and take us in a different direction. And that's a lot of pressure." Cube was able to recruit a stable of upstart producers and chart-toppers like Bangladesh (Lil Wayne, Beyoncé, Kelis) to work on I Am the West. The project pays homage to the classic gangsta-rap movement Cube helped shape. But records like "She Couldn't Make It on Her Own" (featuring the rapper's two sons), "Soul on Ice" and "It Is What It Is" display a range beyond Cube's California roots. The first single, "I Rep That West," was serviced to radio and features a clip directed by Gabriel Hart (Young Jeezy, Plies, B.o.B). I Am the West track list, according to Ice Cube's management: » "A Boy Was Conceived"
» "Soul on Ice"
» "Live in California" (featuring Jayo Felony and WC)
» "She Couldn't Make It on Her Own" (featuring OMG and Dough Boy)
» "Urbanian"
» "Y'All Know How I Am" (featuring OMG, WC, Dough Boy and Maylay)
» "Too West Coast" (featuring WC and Maylay)
» "I Rep That West"
» "Drink the Kool-Aid"
» "No Country for Young Me"
» "It Is What It Is"
» "Hood Robbin' "
» "Your Money or Your Life"
» "Nothin' Like L.A."
» "All Day, Everyday"
» "Fat Cat" What do you think of Ice Cube's new music? Let us know in the comments!

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Ice Cube Recruits Sons To Rhyme On I Am The West

31 Aug 2010 16:53:35 EDT

'They still ain't better than me,' Cube says of kids OMG and Doughboy. 'But they dope.'
By Jayson Rodriguez

Ice Cube
Photo: MTV News

Gangsta rap made Ice Cube do it, but the veteran rapper acknowledges that his sons have had a childhood far different from his own Los Angeles upbringing. So when he recruited his two boys — OMG and Doughboy — to appear on his upcoming album, I Am the West, Cube had to make sure the tracks they rapped on were a good fit.

He ended up featuring them on the Bangladesh-produced "She Couldn't Make It on Her Own" and "Y'all Know How I Am." "When I heard the beat [on 'She Couldn't Make It on Her Own'], I wanted to do a song with my sons, and I felt like the beat feels young to me," Cube told MTV News. "I didn't want them to come out on something that really wasn't their personality. Their personality, they ain't from the 'hood. They didn't have to grow up like that, like I did. So I wanted them to do something that showed their personality. I put them on a track that wasn't strictly a gangsta-rap track, that was fun and something they could come off on." OMG and Doughboy are following in the footsteps of other young artists who hope to shine on the mic like their famous fathers, including Cory Gunz (Peter Gunz), Justice (GZA) and Lil Eazy-E (Eazy-E). The former N.W.A star is a fan of his sons, naturally, but he said the pair still have some work to do to match his skills. "They dope," he said of his offspring. "They still ain't better than me, but they dope. I'm impressed. I'm really impressed by what they doing." What do you think of Cube's new music? Let us know in the comments!

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Ice Cube Insists Rhymes Are Shout-Outs, Not Disses

07 Sep 2010 19:45:00 EDT

Forthcoming album I Am the West references Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella
By Jayson Rodriguez

Ice Cube
Photo: MTV News

Shots fired? Well, not quite. Ice Cube toys with some pretty popular names on his forthcoming album, I Am the West, spitting rhymes that leave Jay-Z, Dr. Dre and DJ Yella's monikers in murky waters.

But the veteran MC says that, upon closer listen, his lyrics are just referencing others for context — they aren't personal attacks. "To me, it's styling and finesse, that's where I come from," Cube told MTV News after previewing the album. "It's a lot of MCs out there, it's not dissing [them]. I guess when you mention these MCs that's at the top of the game and you mention yourself in there, you letting [people] know you on top of your game too. It's on that tip. It's just fresh, fly-ass lines. I couldn't let them go once I thought of them; I had to write them down. But it's not dissing." Earlier this year, Cube released "Drink the Kool-Aid," which featured the lines: "I ain't the doctor/ This ain't the patient/ This ain't that n---a always on vacation/ This ain't no white boy's rehabilitation/ This is crazier then a boatful of Haitians." The blogosphere jumped to a quick conclusion that the Los Angeles rapper was taking aim at his former N.W.A groupmate Dr. Dre. Cube, however, took to his website and posted a blog denying the claims. "I met Dr. Dre in the studio last night," Cube wrote. "When I got there, Snoop was in the booth laying the finishing touches on another classic from the dynamic duo. He played me some tracks set for the up-and-coming Detox record and we talked about me jumping on board the project. Of course I talked about him doing sh-- on my record, and he said he'd bless the album." Last month, though, Cube told MTV News he and Dre weren't able to connect for I Am the West. "He's been M.I.A. for two to three months now," Cube said, laughing. "But I don't feel bad, because Snoop can't find him either."

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Ice Cube Says The New West Isn't 'Just One Flavor'

14 Apr 2011 18:26:49 EDT

'It ain't just a whole city of gang-banging,' the gangsta rap pioneer tells MTV News of burgeoning L.A. hip-hop scene.
By Alvin Blanco, with reporting by Ade Mangum

Ice Cube
Photo: MTV News

Ice Cube is an accomplished actor and director who regularly brings cash to the box office via family-friendly fare like "Are We There Yet?" and comedies like the "Friday" series. The Hollywood-savvy Cube may be years removed from his ascent as a gangsta rap pioneer with N.W.A and as a soloist with albums like AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, but he's still a menace on the mic, releasing his ninth solo album, I Am the West, last year. But when we asked about the chances of a new generation of L.A. rappers breaking through like he did in the late 1980s and early '90s as we gear up for MTV News' New West Week, Cube said he thought a lack of airplay was a potential obstacle — but one that is being overcome.

"I'm not really happy with radio out in L.A.," Ice Cube told MTV News recently. "I think they turned their back on the hip-hop scene out there. Not stations like KDAY, they still play the hits. But some stations that got a little more wattage, they're not bumping the hip-hop like they're supposed to. "I think if you really focus too much on radio, you'll be lost as an artist anyway," he continued. "I think radio is very deceptive. It's kind of fool's gold 'cause you always chasing your last radio hit instead of just going and doing hip-hop like you supposed to, you worrying about spins, stuff like that. To me, radio has messed up a lot of artists." While some of the MCs set to be featured during our New West Week — Nipsey Hussle, Pac Div, Odd Future — have turned to the Internet when radio and other traditional outlets weren't as welcoming, Cube called it a double-edged sword since file-sharing has affected the music business' bottom line. And although Cube admitted he isn't up on too many of the up-and-comers primed to re-establish L.A. as a hip-hop superpower (apart from his sons OMG and Doughboy), he's proud of the movement's variety. "I think people just got caught in a trick bag. L.A. has always been full of all kind of different talent, different styles," Cube said. "It ain't just a whole city of gang-banging. The Black Eyed Peas is a great example of how creative that region is, so I'm happy that it ain't all just one flavor now. That a lot of different flavors are getting out there. Leave the gangsta sh-- to me and everybody else can do whatever they do." The multitalented rapper has been cast in the upcoming "21 Jump Street" film adaptation. And although executive-producing his TBS sitcom "Are We There Yet?" keeps him busy, Cube currently has his sights set on bringing the N.W.A story to theaters. "We're in the process of writing the script," Cube said. "Hopefully, everything will come out perfect. To me, it's an interesting story because the neighborhood we came from created N.W.A. And N.W.A also impacted the neighborhood we came from. It's an interesting movie that needs to be told." Starting Monday, stick with us as MTV News turns the spotlight on the New West, the next wave of hip-hop acts helping to restore faith in the L.A. rap scene. From groups like Odd Future to rising MCs like Dom Kennedy, we'll bring you up close and personal to these artists as they carve their own lanes in the post-gangsta rap era. Keep it locked here for the next week for more on the West Coast up-and-comers!-

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The New West: An In-Depth Look At L.A. Hip-Hop

21 Apr 2011 07:45:00 EDT

Odd Future's Tyler, the Creator
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Wiz Khalifa, Ice Cube, Lupe Fiasco Mix It Up At L.A.'s Powerhouse

26 Jun 2011 10:53:59 EDT

50 Cent, Trey Songz, Snoop Dogg surprise fans at Power 106 show, which also featured Big Sean, Jeremih, LMFAO, the Rej3ctz and T-Pain.
By Felicia "The Poetess" Morris

Wiz Khalifa at Power 106's "Powerhouse 2011"
Photo: MTV News

LOS ANGELES — Radio station Power 106 held their annual sold-out Powerhouse concert at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, on Saturday night, bringing together multiple generations of hip-hop stars, from West Coast OG Ice Cube to L.A.'s latest dance-craze instigators the Rej3ctz to a chart-topping visitor from out east, Wiz Khalifa. The Rej3ctz opened the show with a high-energy performance and later danced onstage with the very colorful LMFAO as they performed "Shots." Sporting a white T-shirt and bright yellow cargo shorts, T-Pain took it up a couple notches with a string of his hits and left fans fully charged with DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win."

The evening had a couple of surprises on deck: 50 Cent joined Jeremih on their collabo "Down on Me," which Jeremih said was the first time they've ever performed the song together in concert. Compton's own DJ Quik gave loyal fans what they came for, and when Lupe Fiasco pulled young crooner Trey Songz onstage during his set, screaming concertgoers raised the decibels to new heights. The Don Mega himself, Ice Cube, brought out his old N.W.A bandmate MC Ren on the song "Hello." "It makes you feel good, being in the game as long as I have," Ice Cube told MTV News before the show. "I done went from new school to old school and still here. You can't do nothing but be humbled by the fact that so many rappers is gone. ... I'm still here after all this time." Cube was also the most-anticipated act of the evening by fellow performers including the headliner, Wiz Khalifa. "This is my first time performing at Powerhouse, my first time performing at an event this big, so I feel elated," Wiz told MTV News before his set. "I'm really excited about seeing Cube." But Khalifa had another trick up his sleeve when it came to honoring L.A.'s hip-hop roots: He brought out his "High School" co-star Snoop Dogg for one last Powerhouse surprise, no doubt leaving 18,000 fans feeling like they got their money's worth.

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Ice Cube: 'Boyz N The Hood' Still 'As Potent' 20 Years Later

13 Jul 2011 21:13:54 EDT

'We felt like we was teaching America about a part of itself that they don't see,' Cube tells 'RapFix Live.'
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Ade Mangum

"RapFix Live" with Cali Swag District
Photo: MTV News

"Either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the 'hood."

In that line lays the crux of John Singleton's 1991 film "Boyz N the Hood." Delivered by Ice Cube's character, Doughboy, those words ring as true today, 20 years later, as they did when the film first hit theaters. Released on July 12 of that year, "Boyz N the Hood" was a gritty, cinematic depiction of the lives of three young African-American men growing up in inner-city Los Angeles. On Wednesday's (July 13) "RapFix Live," Ice Cube broke down the cultural significance of the film that launched his acting career. "When we first did the movie 'Boyz N the Hood,' we felt like we was teaching America about a part of itself that they don't see," he explained. "We was teaching you about people like Doughboy and why he is the way he is." But while Cube's Doughboy was an unapologetic gangster who couldn't see a way out of the 'hood and the gang culture that consumed him, his half-brother Ricky Baker (Morris Chestnut) used football as a means to earn a college scholarship that might ultimately take him out of the ghetto. Their friend Tre, played by Cuba Gooding Jr., struggled to balance the life lessons that his father (Laurence Fishburne) passed onto him with the reality of the streets. And for Cube, the circumstances addressed in the movie still ring true after two decades. "The movie holds up. The movie had been used as a tool to teach people about the 'hood that they may not know about," he said. "I think the movie is a definite classic, it definitely holds up, it's definitely as potent today as it was back then. The message is definitely as clear today and needed as it was back then." Share your favorite scenes from "Boyz N the Hood" in the comments!

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'Boyz N The Hood' A 'Coming-Of-Age Story,' John Singleton Says

15 Jul 2011 15:54:24 EDT

'I knew Ice Cube was a movie star before he knew he was a movie star,' director tells MTV News.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Vanessa WhiteWolf

Ice Cube in "Boyz N The Hood" in 1991
Photo: MTV News

When John Singleton wrote and directed his 1991 film "Boyz n the Hood," there was no grandiose cinematic inspiration or abstract muse. Instead, the Los Angeles native just wrote about what he knew best.

"My biggest influence for making the film was my friends, my friends growing up, and how Los Angeles was in the '80s and '90s," Singleton told MTV News. "None of the movies that we saw growing up had anybody, any characters in them that were like us. So we were like, 'We should make a movie about what we go through, about what we see.' " Released on July 12, 1991, "Boyz n the Hood" was nominated for two Academy Awards and is hailed as a classic 20 years later. On July 19, the film will be re-released in Blu-ray. The movie's impact doesn't seem to surprise Singleton much; he kind of always knew things would turn out this way. "I was like, 'Wow if I can get this in a film, a little bit of what this is, that life on film, then I think I'll have something that will have a hard effect on people,' " he recalled. The film, starring Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut and Laurence Fishburne, is set in South Central, Los Angeles, a California neighborhood notorious for gang violence. At the center of the film is Tre Styles (Gooding Jr.), who tries to balance his father's (Fishburne) life lessons with the harsh realities of the 'hood in which he lived. Then there are half-brothers Doughboy (Cube) and Ricky Baker (Chestnut), two characters who couldn't be more different. Doughboy, a stone-cold gangster, has street respect but very few prospects. His brother Ricky, however, is a young father and a star high school football player fielding sports scholarships from multiple colleges. In the end, Ricky's bright future is brought to a dark close when he's gunned down in an alleyway. Noted for its social message, "Boyz n the Hood" also marked the acting debut of rapper Ice Cube, who has gone on to star in movies like "Friday" with comedian Chris Tucker and "Anaconda" alongside Jennifer Lopez. Cube has also written, directed and produced a number of films as well. "I knew Ice Cube was a movie star before he knew he was a movie star," Singleton said. "He just embodied that role and did a great job." In fact, the director had a vision -- not just for Cube, but for all the members of his former group as well. "The script was originally written for all of N.W.A. The character Doughboy was always meant for Ice Cube, but the whole script was written for all of the N.W.A guys to be in it," Singleton revealed. Unfortunately, the casting didn't go as planned, and years later, Dr. Dre expressed a bit of regret. "It's funny, because when I told Dre that later on, he said, 'Man, if you got any great ideas, you come to me again, you come to me,' " Singleton said with a chuckle. When asked why he thought the film holds up after 20 years, John Singleton offered this: "I think people are still talking about 'Boyz n the Hood' because it's part of who they are. Even if they're not from that environment, they really identify with those characters. Ultimately, the movie is kind of like a teenage story, it's a teenage coming-of-age movie. People watch that movie and say, 'Wow, look at the journey of these characters,' and then they think about their own journey." Check out everything we've got on "Boyz n the Hood." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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