 |
"Hip-hop's not what it was when I got in it," Ice Cube says from a hotel in San Francisco. "Now people are in it for the money and the fame. It ain't about having skills or trying to say something to make any kind of difference and that's what makes it frustrating.
"So, I've kinda detached myself from hip-hop. I'm like, 'Why get caught up in it when I can just do my thing,' " adds Cube, who creates a firestorm of protest with every album he releases. His sixth and seventh discs, War and Peace, are expected before the end of the year.
"So I'm gonna do the Ice Cube thing and let everybody else deal with hip-hop."
I didn't intend asking about the much-speculated upon N.W.A reunion, but Cube raises the topic when I mention Chuck D describing as "hell" his attempt to reunite Public Enemy's visionary Bomb Squad production team.
"It's not worth it 'cause the magic's not gonna be there. If trying to put something together is like pulling teeth it's not gonna be the s---," Cube says. "Trying to put this N.W.A project together is like pulling f---ing teeth. I'm so disgusted with the s--- I don't want to hear nobody say s--- about an N.W.A reunion."
Cube's world, it should be emphasized, isn't all anger and despondency.
He's hyped about his movie, The Players Club, which he wrote and directed, and its accompanying soundtrack, which he produced. The film is skedded to open April 8 and the hip-hop and R&B-heavy album -- featuring Cube, Master P, Mack 10, and Jay-Z to name a few -- arrives in stores Tuesday.
The star of seven movies is also excited about inking a distribution deal for his new label, Heavyweight Records, with a major record company.
"I figured why go to a label that's got a lot of rappers when I can go to A&M Records and make my mark," Cube says. "My brains and their money is the perfect marriage."
Ice Cube reveals another side to the straight-shooting, hell-raising rapper -- his debut, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, was described as a work of "evil genius" and Death Certificate was called "the most politically divisive rap album ever" -- when I enquire about his sons O'Shea, 11, and Darryl, seven.
"The best thing about fatherhood is that you can look at all the mistakes you made and lay down a blueprint for your kids," Cube says. "When you're by yourself you bottle up everything you learn, but when you have kids you can give 'em the game.
"What I love most about being a father is that I can teach 'em all about life and watch 'em sidestep some of the s---," he adds. "I wish my father would've told me some of the things I tell my kids."