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Ice Cube Names His 11 Favorite West Coast MCs
When you talk about West Coast hip-hop, you have to talk about Ice Cube. The man born O'Shea Jackson has done just about everything a rapper can do: He played a major role in one of the greatest rap groups of all time (N.W.A.), dropped two certified classics (AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted and Death Certificate), got into legendary beefs, dropped tons of hits, and everything in between. And although he's spent the early part of the last decade on his Hollywood grind, since 2006 he's dropped an album every two years. Today, his ninth LP, I Am The West, hits stores. Calling yourself the West is a bold claim, but if anyone deserves the title it's certainly him. That's why we got Cube to name his 11 Favorite West Coast MCs (in no particular order) because, well...he is the West.
Snoop Dogg
Ice Cube: "Snoop to me is the ultimate rapper
Too $hort
Ice Cube: "Too $hort is simply great. He still got one of of the purest rap styles of early rap. And he still uses it to this day and it still works. I used to trip off how he can rhyme the same words and make it sound better and different. He can make a simple rhyme sound complex. And he can be rapping like that and not bore you. Anybody else rapping like that you'd be like, 'Man get the fuck outta here.'
"When I first met him, I thought he was a real pimp. I met him in '86 or '87, he had all them girls in Oakland always doing everything he say. It was a trip to meet this dude and come to find out he's hustling albums outta his car. Born to Mack is still one of the best West Coast rap albums ever."
Game
Ice Cube: "Game is ferocious like a pitbull. He one of them rappers where his voice makes everything sound good, just like D.O.C. He doesn't really have to be a real technical rapper or a lyricist—even though he is both of those things—and that shit is still gonna sound good because he's got the voice.
"When I met him, he showed respect. Just like the way I showed respect to the OGs that I'd meet. Like when I see Melle Mell or DJ Run, I give 'em my respect and let 'em know what they mean to me. He did the same thing so I'm always saluting Game because he didn't have to be like that. You know, this Crips and Bloods thing keeps LA divided. Anybody that comes in the game and don't wanna pay respect, they can do that,
Ice-T
Ice Cube: "He was the first person to be accepted nationwide by the hip-hop industry. Him being raised in New Jersey and LA, he was the first one to make a link with the groups out there that was on top. By hanging out with KRS-One and Big Daddy Kane, he was able to put himself in the same category as them when he started to do his music. He opened up a lot of doors for us to come through.
"I remember first getting his album, [Power], in high school. I just couldn't believe how fly it was. Him on the cover, he was looking like an LA player. His logo was an Uzi! It was like, 'Man, this is the record I've been waiting on.' I couldn't believe I had it.
"Ice is an ambassador of the game. He's always dropping knowledge on you. I remember him being backstage saying, 'That
E-40
Ice Cube: "40's style is all styles. I mean, he the king of the lingo. He's the apple tree and everybody picking from him. Sometimes he's so unorthodox, even for the most savvy hip-hop listener. He's that graffiti that you can't read but you know it's dope. He got the swagger. He holds the Bay down well. When you think of the Bay, you gotta think of Too $hort, Hammer, and E-40. I don't know if anyone has been able to come behind him and make a dent, so he's just carrying the torch.
"When you get a chance to meet him, that's when you learn and see that style. He be using all that damn lingo and you can't keep up with what the fuck he's trying to tell you. It's like, 'Goddamn, he's living it!' And he's a hustler. He was clocking millions when dudes was still adding up they advance check. He's a businessman. He just a go-getter."
Kurupt
Ice Cube: "His style is complicated and hard, like razor blade hard. His shit is a jigsaw puzzle. To me, his wordplay is some of the best in the business. He takes Rakim's style [and mixes] gangsta shit in perfect. [I first heard him] on The Chronic. I always thought he had a perfect delivery, flow, voice, and he just kept getting better and better. Definitely one of my favorites. We would hang out on tour, he always come off real humble. I got a lot a love for him
King Tee
Ice Cube: "He was one of the first people out here doing gangsta rap. Him and DJ Pooh. He was doing gangsta shit back in like '85, back before a lot of people. He used to have songs like 'My Payback A Mother.' That Act A Fool album is dope. He's an underrated MC.
"Me and DJ Pooh were cool
Ras Kass
Ice Cube: "Man, he one of the best rappers...ever. I mean just as a pure rapper. He up there with Twista and Eminem, niggas that can just put it together. But it's like he can't make records as good as he can rap and that was his downfall. He's still one of the best rappers if you talking about spitting. It's a couple dudes that's on a whole other level, and I think he's one of
DJ Quik
Ice Cube: "He's just one of the most talented dudes out here. He's just one of those jacks of all trades—he can play, produce, rap, and perform. He's one of those dudes that do it all. But he was never on the right record label to help capitalize on how good he is. I had a session with Quik one time after he had an accident and a kid got killed. He was just on the piano, sad about it. That's my most vivid memory of Quik."
2pac
Ice Cube: "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. So I look at him like a West Coast MC because he repped the West so much, but he's an MC from all over. He was able to get flavor from all over."
The D.O.C.
Ice Cube: "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. From the rhymes that he had and the music Dre was putting together, he was gonna do for us what LL did for the East Coast. D.O.C. was our Rakim. But it was just cut too short."