West Coast
Webs

Start here, end up somewhere else

We're pulling on a thread we glanced at last week and that thread is one of the Godfathers of West Coast Rap, Ice Cube. The Long Way Round puts him at the centre of this week's web.

Ice Cube▸Two ways in, four ways out Six tracks · All killer, no filler

Ice Cube

01 Eazy-E "Boyz-n-the-Hood" N.W.A. and the Posse · 1987 · written by Ice Cube, produced by Dr. Dre

ViaHard to believe that he was only seventeen when he wrote this. For three years or so, N.W.A. defined the genre.

02 Public Enemy "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back · 1988 · produced by The Bomb Squad

ViaBlistering lyrics set to a methodical tempo, the story of one man's escape from prison forces society to take a look at itself. The Bomb Squad's direction is written large on Ice Cube's debut solo album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted.

03 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five "The Message" The Message - EP · 1982

ViaWhat can we say about The Message that hasn't been said before? The influence this song had is obvious but we'll mention Check Yo Self (The Message Remix) anyway.

04 Westside Connection "The Gangsta, The Killa and the Dope Dealer" The Best of Westside Connection · the 1996 Bow Down cut · Ice Cube, Mack 10 and WC · samples Nine Inch Nails’ "Hurt"

ViaThis is why we miss liner notes because we can still remember having to double check that the T. Reznor in the credits for this song was the Trent Reznor. It is and that's Hurt you hear sampled.

05 Dr. Dre & Ice Cube "Natural Born Killaz" Murder Was the Case (The Soundtrack) · 18 October 1994

ViaDre and Cube in their prime, absolutely ripping it up here. An 18 rated action film in a 4.46 minute track.

06 Paul Oakenfold "Get Em Up" Bunkka · 18 June 2002 · feat. Ice Cube

ViaWe first heard this track when we were ripping CDs for our iPod library. It took a while to find it again because who'd have put Ice Cube on a Paul Oakenfold album? Trust us, you'll want to hear this.

On this way round legacies were continued, genres were defined, and boundaries were pushed.