The biggest shock for me as a hip hop fan is how people forget early Ice Cube. If you’re my age - 32 - you might remember “Check Yourself” and “It Was a Good Day” but you probably remember Cube from Westside Connection and the late 90s when he had more club records.
“Straight Outta Compton” might have reinvigorated interest in NWA but it only had a brief glimpse into Cube’s solo career after he left. People may know Cube was NWA's chief songwriter besides MC Ren and The D.O.C. but modern fans forget that from 1990-94, he was as great as anybody who ever touched a mic.
I’ve gone as far as to say Ice Cube is better than Tupac. Tupac was brilliant with his emotion and passion but the fact some of you raised an eyebrow showed why Ice Cube is probably more underrated than he should be.
Death Certificate is the crown jewel of that early run. AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted was a powerful debut that showed Ice Cube could hold his own away from NWA. Death Certificate was a step forward in taking that rage and skill and making it more West Coast friendly. The Bomb Squad handled most of the production for AMW but DC was all Cube and Sir Jinx making it funkier.
It’s also one of the most controversial albums ever made. A town in Oregon banned copies of it and several of these songs probably couldn’t be made today (Giving Up The Nappy Dugout!). It still reached No. 2 on the pop charts and it showed why Cube was the most popular and most feared rapper out. I've already written before why I think it's the best West Coast solo album but now that my musical ears have grown, I'm breaking it down even further.
For years, I’ve felt that the greatest hip hop tragedy not involving a death was what happened to the D.O.C. Thanks to a car accident that trashes his vocal cords and suddenly, one of the West Coast’s most promising talents has been altered forever.
The biggest outcome is that future generations of rap listeners like myself would never get to hear him on records that dominated the West’s landscape. Future generations would also forget his talent and perhaps only remember him from Dr. Dre’s shoutout on “Nuthin But a G Thang” or his voice on this Jock Jam/sports arena classic.
To be honest, I didn’t even listen to No One Can Do It Better until 2009. Yet being forgotten or known as a sidekick does a disservice to perhaps the most technically gifted MC on the West Coast who could’ve made an even bigger impact that he has now as a ghostwriter.
This month is the 25th anniversary of the D.O.C.’s debut and it’s one of my favorites. He made rapping sound so easy and with Dr. Dre continued to build on his production style, it was a marriage that added a new layer to the West Coast beginning to make an impact on rap.
I've been excited for Kendrick Lamar's album since last year and hearing it 3 times hasn't changed my mind when I say that it's one of the best debuts I've heard since "Food + Liquor". I'm happy that he and Big K.R.I.T. give me hope for the future in rap that rappers will have as much substance as they do everything else.
Besides "Food + Liquor", it also reminded me of Ice Cube's classic "Death Certificate" just because it captured what a young man in L.A. is going through. While it lacks the political bite of DC, one of my favorite albums of all time, the window and perspective of GKMC reminds of what Cube was trying to capture.
Is it a classic? How can you call something a classic 2 weeks after it comes out? It's an incredible piece of work that'll be remembered for a while. It's a great album. It'll be one of the best albums of the year. But let's wait and give it time because just because it looks like a classic, we still gotta let it play out.
That said, go cop it. Buy some extra copies for folks. Be a good friend like I was with my lady and let them have a copy however you can arrange it. Good music must be supported with your dollars and based on the last 2 weeks on Billboard, people are supporting Kendrick incredibly. 304,000 sold in 2 weeks for a debut artist? Who barely has a Top 40 single? Incredible!
I tried so hard to start this blog with words but I couldn't. I'm literally tearing up listening to this song because it was part of my childhood. Nate Dogg dead at 41? Somehow I always hoped that despite those two strokes, he'd survive and come back to make one more song with Snoop Dogg or Dr. Dre's Detox.
For those like me who grew up in Los Angeles, Nate Dogg was just as much a part of the West Coast scene as any rapper. His rough but smooth voice was the icing for the G-funk/gangsta rap era but it was special because nobody sounded like him before or after. He was the first go-to-guy to sing hooks on a record who didn't sound soft but enhanced the rap vibe of the song.
"Regulate" not only kept the West Coast buzz alive in 1994 along with Snoop's Doggystyle album, it saved Def Jam from extinction. The label was nearly broke in the mid-90s before Warren G signed with Violator Records, a subsidiary of Def Jam, and thanks to this song, his debut went triple platinum and kept the label afloat.
Look at Nate Dogg's list of contributions - Tupac, DJ Quik, Pharaoh Monch & Mos Def, Eminem (Til I Collapse is even more ominous with Nate's voice). He helped Fabolous have his first hit, Ludacris his first non-album hit, 50 Cent cross over to the ladies, and gave Westside Connection their last hit where Cube certified his status with "It ain't a single til Nate Dogg sings on it." This man wasn't just a rapper, he was every bit a talented singer who gave songs a gritty, yet golden touch.
I know this album got slept on heavily by folks.
Here in Cali though, he means more than just a precursor to Akon and T-Pain. We grew up on his solo songs "Never Leave Me Alone" and "I Got Love" and his classic hooks on jams like Tupac's "All About You", Snoop Dogg "Ain't No Fun" and many more, Shade Shiest "Where I Wanna Be", Kurupt's "Girls All Pause", Warren G's "Game Don't Wait", Dr. Dre's "Next Episode" and "Xxxplosive", The Game "Where I'm From" and finally the remix to Snoop's "Boss Life" which I wish was on Blue Carpet Treatment instead of Akon.
We love Dr. Dre, we love Snoop Dogg and we love Tupac. But Nate Dogg is loved just as much because he was part of the innovation and sound of an era. He repped Long Beach with his childhood friends Warren G and Snoop Dogg and knowing their history - the 213 album and songs "Im Fly" and "Groupie Love" meant more than just a supergroup. It was friends coming together, which is exactly what hip hop is about.
I was proud to hear that 93.5 KDAY interrupted program format to play Nate Dogg songs. We know that radio today is more programming and less jocks but for them to interrupt says a lot about this moment. They said that DJ Pooh and others called in to pay respects. At a time where I've hated LA hip hop radio for going too pop, its only fitting that the best hip-hop station left stopped what they were doing and connected with the people.
I know Power 106 did their own tribute, but KDAY needs to be commended for being right there when it happened.
It was even sadder to me because when I saw Snoop Dogg at Rock The Bells last year, he had the old Death Row gang up there with him performing Doggystyle. Dogg Pound, Lady of Rage, RBX, Warren G. The only one not there was Nate and Snoop asked everyone to sing Nate's part on "Aint No Fun" to show him love in the hospital.
I'm not gonna say it's one of the greatest openings ever, but as far as verses that the most folks will know RIGHT AWAY and sing word-for-word, you'd be hard pressed to find many memorable than Nate on that song.
It's a sad day for hip hop but an even sadder one for the West Coast. A childhood memory now gone. Let Nate get the final word with "Never Leave Me Alone" and remember a true original. Rest in peace, Nathaniel Hale.
Along with Nas, Ice Cube is my favorite MC. I bought his first 3 albums the summer of 2005 and they were the soundtrack to understanding why Cube was hands down the hardest MC in his prime. You can only get so much from downloading individual songs like I did.
I've told folks that Cube from 1990-1993 can stand toe-to-toe with any MC (and for that matter, throw in his NWA years since he was the main songwriter along with MC Ren). He balanced realness with pop success. He sold well, had everyone listening to him and most of all, he scared folks with brutal honesty about growing up in 90's Los Angeles.
His 2nd album Death Certificate is one of my favorites in any genre. A brilliant concept album that has influenced more MC's than you think. I'm going on a limb and saying it's the greatest solo West Coast hip hop album. The only album worth competing is Tupac's Me Against the World or 7 Day Theory. Death Certificate combines of both of those albums - passion, anger, sobering realism and uplifting his audience.
Just from that picture, you knew it was serious. Cube with his hand over his heart over Uncle Sam's dead body. You knew this wasn't just any rap album. It was about to get raw and real, as soon as that preacher finished his monologue on the opener.
DC was a more independent, focused Cube. His first album was made with the help of the Bomb Squad but this was all him, Sir Jinx and the Lench Mob. NWA had already dropped their followup and went #1 - proving they could survive with Cube and take shots at him. If AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was his warning shot, DC was his full-on assault that showed he was the wrong brotha to mess with.
DC is split into 2 sides. The Death Side - Cube running wild like a typical hood kid who doesn't know any better, being angry, reckless and ends up dead. The Life Side - A rebirth where Cube realizes the error of his ways and becomes an advocate for the community in the vein of Malcolm X, Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers.
I love the Life Side because it shows Cube at his most conscious, volatile and angry. You can tell he became a full on Muslim with how he goes off on folks. Hard to pick a favorite song so I'll highlight some of my favorite tracks that sum up why this album earned 5 mics in the Source
"My Summer Vacation" - Cube's brilliant storytelling shines here. A tale of drug dealers going to Minnesota/Seattle to find work. Think further proof of DJ Quik's "Just Lyke Compton"
"A Bird in the Hand" - A song you don't hear about today. Everyone wants to be drug kingpins and all that but Cube is the one to admit the reasons behind most folks doing it. A last resort after trying to find work with no diploma and being short on cash. The BB King sample makes it feel even more bleak.
"True to The Game" - an attack of Black folks who sell out their communities/culture. The video is incredibly provocative and I wish Spike Lee used this in "Bamboozled." Be true to who you are and not who you think you should be.
"Us" - Cube pointing the finger at Black folks for contributing to their problems. As angry as he is as America, white folks and Korean store owners, he's quick to show it here as well as call for doing more to help themselves. Again, something we don't hear often that we need, especially today.
"Alive on Arrival" - 3 years before Biggie kills himself on wax and at the same time Scarface did the same on his debut, Cube writes from the P.O.V. of a guy shot in the streets and slowly dying in the hospital. Also a critique on bad health care in the Black communities. It's also the next to last song on the Death Side before Cube is reborn.
Oh yeah, the only guest appearances are on "Color Blind" with a pre-fame WC and Coolio among the verses. There's also skits from Khalid Muhammad closing the Death Side and beginning the Life Side. But this is all Cube holding his own and making footprints in hip-hop. It also has one of the greatest disses ever in "No Vaseline" where he destroys NWA and Jerry Heller.
It's better than Snoop Dogg's debut because while Doggystyle is sonically and lyrically tight, there's no social commentary on there. It's better than The Chronic although while it created a whole new sound that Cube later emulated, Snoop was arguably the star of that album just as much Dr. Dre. Tupac's best work rivals it because Ice Cube was Tupac before Tupac hit the mainstream.
And for all the controversy surrounding the racial content, it still went No. 2 on the pop charts and platinum. Proved that Cube was arguably the biggest solo rapper in America and not only does controversy sell, so does artistic integrity. .
Why do I love it? Because it's a coming of age album. It describes the life of most Black men in that era - from being like O-Dog and Doughboy to Furious Styles. It's a maturity in hip-hop that isn't heard enough today. It's cinematic in its approach as Cube is a street reporter who tells it like it is without sugarcoating or exaggeration. It's music made with a purpose.
Case in point, this album is West Coast hip-hop at its finest. Check that, it's hip-hop at its finest.
