The devil cube

Rip It Up, Issue 201, 1 May 1994, Page 26

The devil cube

Ice Cube was born O’Shea Jackson in 1968, he grew up in West LA, not far from the scene of the 1964 Watts riots. Fresh outta school, he began writing rhymes in a group called the CIA, alongside Sir Jinx and long-time homie K-Dee. In late 85 he hooked up with Andre Young, now known as Dr Dre, and a former drug dealer called Eazy-E. As Niggaz With Attitude they released the chart-topping album Straight Outta Compton and became famous worldwide with the anti-establish-ment single ‘Fuck tha Police.’ After this initial blaze of glory N.W.A came crashing down. Cube left, recruited the Lench Mob and soon became ‘the nigga ya love to hate.’ In 1990 he released his debut album AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, a raw, hardcore, uncensored blast of life in the ‘hood. Way more than EazyE, Cube was “the crazy muthafucka from around the way.” His latest record Lethal Injection is his fourth in as many years and sees Cube less in-your-face and more on the funky mellow tip. What does this mean? Has Cube become less angry, more settled, calmed down even? “It’s not the fact that I’ve calmed down, It’s the fact that I can’t come out the same way every time I do a record. If I come out the same way every time I get boring, and I get bored with myself. Every record that I’ve come out with doesn’t

sound like the last one I released and that’s done on purpose. I think I reveal a little more of me every time I do a record but I really don’t want my public or my critics to get an angle on who I am and what I’m about.”

The young Cube was proud to have that ‘nigga ya 10ve...’ moniker, and definitely lived up to that reputation. AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted perfectly documented the anger and frustration of black youth living in war-torn South Central, and on 1991’s Death Certificate Cube articulated the urban rage that resulted in the riots of the following year. This time round the proverbial fire in the belly sounds a little less hot. Has he ditched the early persona? “Not ditched at all, it’s definitely still there. The only thing that’s changed about what I’m doing is > the tempo. In a lot of ways the records I’ve done are close to some of the new stuff, but with a different outlook. It’s a lot less political this new record but it’s a lot more street, but it’s not the street that you usually hear from Ice Cube, it’s a different flavour. Hopefully a career lasts long enough that I can show a couple more different angles of Ice Cube.” No argument there, but word has it Cube is becoming a fully fledged member of Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam. To truly follow that path means he would have to give up the rap game. “I’m not a member of the Nation of Islam, I’m

definitely affiliated with the Nation of Islam, but I’m not an official member, not at all. I’m learning a lot from that and a lot about myself that I didn’t know. Of course every time I grow as a person I’m gonna grow as an artist, so there are certain things you hear me say today that I didn’t say yesterday.” The Nation of Islam’s most recognised member, 29 years after his death, is still Brother Malcom X. But after his pilgrimage to Mecca during April 1964 the finger of blame turned. Malcom X denounced the Nation and their most controversial creed, that all white people are devils. Are they Cube? “If you put it in the perspective that I’m in, of course. The reason why is because if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem. We have lost an estimate of 600 million black people at the hands of white people in only a matter of 6000 years. To me that’s devilish. When It comes to white people in America, from my perspective, they're devilish because they sit back and let the things that go on to biack people happen...not only black people but all people of colour all over the

world. When you sit back and you cry, ‘well I didn’t do nuthin’ to ya’, but you benefit off things that are being done to me without protesting, of course you’re a devil and you’re running with the devil because you’re spending devil’s money. Like I say all snakes are not poisonous but they’re all snakes.”

The current leader of the Nation of Islam, Minister Louis Farrakhan, has widely voiced the opinion that the only solution to the problem of race relations is total separation between blacks and whites. What does an internationally famous rapper with fans all colours of the spectrum say about that? “White people really have the power to say whether there should be separation or not. I have a lot of white friends and a lot of white people I do business with, that’s cool with me— ” But they’re still devils?

“Definitely! They definitely got Into that position because of America raping and stealing from most of the darker people throughout the world. America didn’t become strong just by being a country, America became strong on 300 hundred years of free labour. That’s how America shot out as being a superpower while still being one of the youngest countries In the world. Maybe they didn’t physically do nuthin’ to me there but you go deep enough into that bloodline and go deep enough into my bloodline and you’ll see that somebody

had to be a devil. If you’re the offs P of “ devil then you’re a devil. Now, let me finish my answer on the separation tip. It s really up to white folks on whether that’s true. All we want is a fair playing field, that’s all black people have ever asked for, Is to make sure the playfield Is level and may the best man win. When the playing field Is not level we cannot get along, we cannot get justice. Just like two people who are married, if they can’t get along, they divorce and for the most part It ends up being the best decision for them both.” Most of the white folks I know, including y selt who are fans of rap music aren't down with it ‘cause they want to be black, or prov they empathise with a cause or a struggle, or even worse gain acceptance from non-whites. Wiggas :°eTn’t To me rap music is ail about£ . atotode and a flavour and a groove, and that is some thing that a person of any colour can res But does Cube even care what us devils g out of his music? “Definitely! The white audience is really eavesdroppin’ on a conversation which they need to eavesdrop on. I think what 1 say is very healthy to my white audience because hey should hear the uncut truths and what black kids are really diggin’. Whether it’s good or bad the, should hear It, they definitely neei to tone in I have to really do my records geared to bla k kids because we are In the worst situation. This situation is going to come to a head one polo and we need people that understand the situa ™ that when It comes to a head we can intelligently deal with It. We’re moving towards that right now. Black folks ain’t gonna take this S long and white folks ain't gonna take ?his X too long, It's gonna come to a boding P °'la' continues to be a virtual timebomb? “Shit yeah, every day. I think IA has h^ to. many things happen to It, money is getting shorter and shorter and the tolerance is gob ting shorter and shorter. I think the riot was just a line in the sand and I think every o y picked their side. I think they are ready for the next one. See the media fuels this, it am t no gangsta thing. Break down all the records se In LA it’s a small percentage of LA that 1 sell records to We [Tu-Pac, Snoop Dogg, Dre] all got the same fans and it’s the same people who are buying all the records, so then you look at the problems that LA has, and it’s bigger than US Cube no longer calls South Central home. married now, has two kids and a third on th way. Obviously it’s no place to raise children, and if you're lucky enough to have the choice, you re definitely going to shift. “1 did it for a couple of reasons. One reason was X sick of people riding by my house and hollerin' ‘lce Cube come outside Y. Ice Cube.’ 1 couldn’t get no peace. Another thing,

there’s a shortage of money, a shortage of jobs, a shortage of everything . . . you’ve heard the expression it’s like a jungle out there.’ When you’re part of that you don’t care but once you succeed In any kinda way, Just like a lion with a peace of meat In the jungle, all the other lions are going to scheme on their buddy for the meat. When you’re living In that situation and people have a perception that you have more than you have, they’re gonna start plottln’. They say, ‘he go outta town, his woman’s there maybe we should snatch her up and hold her for ransom.’ I’ve seen too many brothers held for ransom to wanna stay. Look, if you’re trying to help drowning people, what’s wrong with you gettin’ on the boat and reachin’ In and trying to help. You don’t have to be In the water to save a drowning person. I don’t have to be puttin’ my head down in South Central to deal with the problem and help my people in South Central, because I’m there every day. I just don’t want to lay my family there, tryin’ to be hard with this rap shit and have my family killed over some bullshit ‘cause I’m tryin’ to stay down with the ‘hood. I’m downer than anybody in it wherever I am.” In the past year many a word has been written about the alleged relationship between criminal behaviour and gangsta rap. Tu-Pac Shakur was photographed by Vibe magazine wearing a straightjacket, alongside an article detailing his trial on two attempted murder charges. Snoop Doggy Dogg featured on the cover of the November ‘94 issue of Newsweek (‘When Is Rap 2 Violent’) and the UK music paper Melody Maker (‘Has Gangsta Rap Gone Too Far’). While there are many rap artists (those two included) who deliver intelligent accounts of urban life in the ‘hood, there remains an endless stream of young MCs making pointless cliched records about guns and gang bangin’. Is gangsta rap going too far? “That’s what the audience has to decide. Me, I don’t choose to have a comic-book style record, I choose to have a real record. That’s why when you asked the question has Ice Cube lost any of his flavour I had to answer with ‘no’ because I only can rap about what happened in the year between records. The year between Predator and Lethal Injection here’s what I came up with, here’s something that touched my life in that year. Some years the shit is more hectic than other years but I’m always gonna be true and tell you my true feelings on what happened. I’m not gonna make up some shit ‘cause I’ve got to come from a true angle. Some people choose to do a comic book every year but I think it’s reaiiy up to the listener to pick that out . . . some people like comic books over the newspaper.” On another level of the game, Cube is to hit the big screen once more, reuniting with Boyz in the Hood director John Singleton and actor Laurence Fishburn, who played Furious Styles in the same film. The result of a more recent collaboration with former band-mate Dre, an album entitled Helter Skelter, will be released in July of this year. A third party from Street Knowledge cuts in on the conversation and very much to my disappointment Cube has to go. Still, we’ve talked well over the allocated time and on this end of the line at least, it’s been a huge thrill. The next few hours I spend on a high and no work gets done. Today, it was a good day. JOHN RUSSELL

South Central: "I just don't want to lay my family there, tryln’ to be hard with this rap shit and have my family killed over some bullshit ‘cause I’m tryin’ to stay down with the ‘hood. I’m downer than anybody in it wherever I am.”

“The only thing that’s changed about what I’m doing is the tempo.”