Los Angeles rapper Ice Cube is synonymous with gangster rap. He got his start rapping as a young teenager at house parties,
where he first met the famous Dr. Dre. Together, they would go on to form a succession of rapping crews that eventually became N.W.A., a pioneer group in the genre of gangster rap.
Along with Eazy-E, Ice Cube became one of the standouts of that group, coming with a hard, aggressive delivery and evocative lyrics that were to define gangster rap. Ice Cube lyrics were all about serving justice -- legally or not.
Actually, Ice Cube lyrics for the group were so provocative that it drew N.W.A., and the budding gangster rap genre as a whole, heat from pro-family groups and politicians. Of course, this had no effect on softening Ice Cube lyrics and, even after N.W.A. dissolved, Cube continued recording his own solo gangster rap.
Some of the fiercest solo Ice Cube lyrics came on his debut solo gangster rap album, 1990's AmeriKKKA's Most Wanted. In the title track, he rapped: "Cops ain't shit to me / I can't dig a pig so I drop the dogs / and sweat em like sweathogs." This was gangster rap at its purest -- street tales of disregard for the law -- and the rest of the Ice Cube lyrics on the record followed suit.
A couple records later, 1992's Death Certificate, Ice Cube lyrics were still mostly as hard and focused on gangster rap. On "Check Yo Self," he boasted, "First you wanna step to me / Now Your ass screamin' for the deputy" a few lines after bragging about assault rifles.
Still, this album also showed an evolution of Ice Cube lyrics. Major hit "It Was a Good Day," for instance, was a harmless tale of a day spent playing basketball and hanging out in the neighborhood.
Nowadays, Ice Cube lyrics are far less focused on violence and Cube himself is known as a fairly family-friendly entertainer. His 2010 album I am the West featured more party jams and narrative songs.
With such a long career behind him, Ice Cube will draw from it all at one of his most anticipated summer concerts, his appearance at the Gathering of the Juggalos festival from August 11 to 14 in Illinois. There, he'll share a stage with other hardcore rap stars like Lil Jon, Flavor Flav, Mystikal, Juvenile, and many others.
