S. Samuel
Hip-hop veteran Ice Cube has named his personal favorite emcees from the western region ranging from the late Tupac Shakur to current rap star The Game.
Cube’s list also included his friends/fellow rap vanguards Snoop Dogg and E-40.
“Snoop to me is the ultimate rapper ’cause he got everything…Too $hort is simply great. He still got one of of the purest rap styles of early rap…Game is ferocious like a pitbull. He one of them rappers where his voice makes everything sound good, just like D.O.C. [Ice-T] was the first person to be accepted nationwide by the hip-hop industry…E-40’s style is all styles…Kurupt‘s style is complicated and hard, like razor blade hard…” (Complex)
The rap legend also said Ras Kass is an elite caliber emcee.
“[King Tee] was one of the first people out here doing gangsta rap…[Ras Kass,] man, he one of the best rappers…ever. I mean just as a pure rapper…[DJ Quik] is just one of the most talented dudes out here…[Pac], he’s a West Coast MC, but you know Pac is from the world. Yeah, [he was born in New York] and then he moved out here to one of these hoods out in Northern California…I knew him before he did music, he was my man. I just remember D.O.C. being a cool dude, but a little crazy, outta control, having too much fun. D.O.C. was another one of them MCs that woulda set the bar so high that people wouldn’t have been able to get it.” (Complex)
Producer Dow Jones of Tha Bizness recently talked with SOHH about Cube’s iconic status having worked with him on his last two solo albums.
“With Ice Cube, it’s been a relationship we have been building [upon]. We had a joint on [2008’s] Raw Footage that was called “Jack in the Box.” So it’s kinda been a mutual thing, we look at it as still, we’re fans of the game and coming from the West Coast, Cube is probably still one of the bigger icons out there. We just looked at hooking up with him like that.” (SOHH Guest Star)
Aside from his own music, Cube is currently in talks of launching a biopic based off his legendary crew, N.W.A.
“I’m trying to get the N.W.A movie made. I want to get a good script together and find a director. The movie is gonna cover how we got together, how we broke up and what happened after that,” says Ice Cube. And while he says he’s not yet sure who will play members of the iconic 80s rap group, Cube says he’s already has clear vision on how the movie will begin and end. “The bookmarks for the movie will be when [Dr.] Dre started DJing for his Momma doing house parties up to Eazy‘s death. There’s no reason to go after that.” (VIBE)
Check out Ice Cube & Game’s “State of Emergency video below:
