"He calls his solo debut album Amerikkka's Most Wanted, but ever since exploding on the scene as a chief lyricist for N.W.A., Ice Cube has been one of America's most acclaimed rap artists. However, if anyone thinks the Platinum success of N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton may have watered down Ice Cube's scorching images of life in the neighborhood, forget it. Amerikkka's Most Wanted is a steel-hard collection of fourteen new raps, told from the point of view of the kid on the block: a perfect description of Ice Cube himself. The album is a classic example of East Meets West. The L.A. born-and-bred Ice Cube traveled to New York to join forces with Public Enemy's Chuck D. in the recording of Amerikkka's Most Wanted. Also on the production team were Hank Shocklee, Keith Shocklee, Eric Sadler, and Sir Jinx, a friend and member of Ice Cube's new band, The Lench Mob. "Chuck D. is a real good friend," says Ice Cube, "and we just took control of this record." Cont'd...
"...Ice Cube views himself as a reporter, both informing an ignorant world about life in the inner city and holding up a mirror to Black America. "Rap is the network newscast Black people never had," he says. Of course, not everybody sees it that way. Ice Cube and N.W.A. found themselves at the center of controversy last year when a regional F.B.I. Director wrote a public letter condemning the rap group for its song, '**** tha Police.' "Anytime you have kids talking to a mass of other kids - and they're listening - you're going to have controversy," says Ice Cube. "My first thought was to get out a new 12" remix of '**** tha Police.' I've had much worse done to me before than get a letter." Growing up in the rough L.A. neighborhood of Compton, Ice Cube indeed knows first hand how much worse it can be. As a kid, he loved the music of Parliament / Funkadelic and the comedy of Richard Pryor. But it was rap that turned his head around for good. "When I first heard 'Rapper's Delight,' I couldn't stop rewinding it," he recalls. "It did nothing but grab be." By age 14 he was writing his own raps, and seeing Ice-T in concert for the first time sealed his determination to turn pro." - 1990.
