From: isbell@ai.mit.edu (Charles L Isbell)
Newsgroups: alt.rap,rec.music.funky
Subject: New Jack Reviews XXXIV: _The Predator_ by Ice Cube
Date: 17 Nov 92 12:01:48
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
NNTP-Posting-Host: panther.ai.mit.edu


All that and a bowl of grits.

This time:  _The Predator_ by Ice Cube
Next time:  _Business, Never Personal_ by EPMD
            _Sleeping With The Enemy_ by Paris
            _Home Invasion_ by Ice-T
Catch Ups:  _Business As Usual_ by EPMD
            _People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm_ by
                    A Tribe Called Quest
            _He's The DJ... I'm The Rapper_ by DJ Jazzy Jeff/Fresh Prince
            _Follow The Leader_ by Eric B and Rakim

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Distinctiveness:  It's very Ice Cube... but different.  Wow.
Dopeness Rating:  Phat.  Rotundly phat.  Phat+.
     Rap Part:    Even phatter.  Needing to see Weight Watchers phat. 
     Sounds:      Phat.  Especially when it's closer to _Amerikkka_
                  ('course I like hard stuff), but just as dope when
                  it slows down the beets.
Message:          This is a very NoI/Street Politics style of speak, but
                  much more like _Amerikkka_ than _Death Certificate_
Tracks:           56:30 is the clock time with 16 tracks.
Label:            Priority Records.  Produced by the usual Cube suspects.
Profanity:        Oh, my, yes.  His language is peppered with "niggas"
                  and "b*tches."  In fact, every male is a nigga and
                  every woman is a b*tch or a ho' (he's an equal
                  opportunity offender). 

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               "I never heard of them.  But I know that rap is the
                music where it rhymes."
                         -President Bush on rapper Ice Cube, May 1992


Obligatory personal history: 

Well, as everybody but Bush knows, Ice Cube is quite late of NWA,
moving from that crowd to his own style of speak with three major
musical efforts: _Amerikkka's Most Wanted_, the EP _Kill At Will_ and
_Death Certificate_.  And just to prove that he could, he played
Doughboy to critical acclaim in 1991's _Boyz N The Hood_.  Plus, he's
put together and produced Da Lench Mob whose _Guerillas In The Mist_
has gotten much dap.

And now he's back with _Predator_ (and this time only two weeks late).
This album is a synthesis of _Death Certificate_ and _Amerikkka's Most
Wanted_ in terms of the lyric; however, it's a very different album
musically.  Although it starts out with the hard core sound of "The
Nigga Ya Love To Hate" and "The Product", it quickly moves to a more
relaxed sound, somewhat like "Summer Vacation" or "Alive On Arrival"
maybe.

Still, this is one dope album.  Fans will not be disappointed, I
think. 

We open with "The First Day of School (intro)," Cube's usual
one-minute intro track.  This time, school has bars.

        "...spread your cheeks and give me two good coughs"

We move without pause to "When Will They Shoot?" which might be
described as "The Nigga Ya Love To Hate, part three" but with a choice
Queen sample and the inserted voice of XClan this is even better.

            "Ice Cube is out-gunned
             What is the outcome?
             Will they do me like Malcolm?
             'Cause I bust styles, new styles
             standin' strong while 
             others run a hundred miles
             But I never run, never will
             Deal with the devil with my motherf*ckin' steel
             BOOM
             Media try to do me
             But I was a boy in the hood before the movie
             Yeah, call me nigga, bigot and a spook
             But you the one who voted for Duke, motherf*cker"

This track is much HARD and very in your face both lyrically and
musically.  I think it's one of his best ever, vintage Cube with a
touch of the newer sing-songish voice he did a bit on Lench Mob.

      "Doin' us wrong from the first day
       and don't understand why a nigga's got an AK"

                        "It's a great day for genocide
                         What's that?
                         That's the day all the niggas died"

This should be his second release definitely.  All that and a slice of
government cheese.  Damn.

                  "I met Farakhan and had dinner
                   Now you ask if I'm a 5%-er
                   Well... no but I go where the brothers go
                   Down with Compton mosque number fifty four
                   made a little dough
                   still got a sister on my elbow
                   Did Ice Cube sell out?  You say hell no
                   A Black woman is my manager, not in the kitchen
                   so could you please stop bitchin'?"

Anyway, "I'm Scared (insert)" is a short series of samples.  A nice
interrupution, but i might have been better placed later in the album.

                              "What scares us is I think we hear violence"

Anyway, this brings us to "Wicked," Cube's first release out some two
or three weeks now.  I also like this one although is doesn't come
close to "When Will They Shoot?".  This is a samplefest with bits and
pieces of "Funky Worm", Das EFX's "Looseys" and a few others.

          "Nappy head, nappy chest, nappy chin
           Never seen with a happy grin
           Show the fat frown 'cause I'm down
           Take a look around
           All you see is big black boots
           Steppin', use my steel toe as a weapon"

The worst thing about this track is the ragga voice around the chorus,
but that's not even a bad thing.

               "People want to know how cum
                I got a gat
                And I'm lookin' out the window like Malcolm
                Ready to bring that noise
                Kinda trigger happy like the ghetto boys
                April 29th brought power to the people
                And we might just see a sequel
                'Cause police got equal hate
                A horse is just a pig that don't fly straight
                Thru with Darryl Gates
                But it's Willie Williams
                Down with the pilgrims
                Just a super slave
                We'll have to break his ass up like Super Dave"

This moves us to "Now I Gotta Wet'Cha."  Anything with Aqua Boogie in
it should get dap and this is no exception.  It's much less hard,
sound wise at least, compared to the last two tracks.

                              "S... I... M... I...
                               valley for the KKK rally
                               A place on the map where the order is
                               those devils can beat up a motorist
                               And get nuthin' but a slap on the wrist"

This track uses a phone ring and a car horn as pseudo percussion to
nice effect I think.  The only problem is, it sounds like mine so I
keep looking to my phone.  

                    "Why'd ya have to leave it to Beaver?
                     Now I'm chasin' Beaver's ass with a cleaver
                     With the swing swing swing and chop chop chop"

From there we get to the title track, "The Predator," with its liberal
sprinking of quotes from the two movies.

        "Comin' with a crazy pitch
         and the statue of liberty 
         ain't nothin' but a lazy b*tch"

Nice one, if not as memorable as the other stuff on this album.

The next two tracks fit together pretty well.  The first one is "It
Was a Good Day" which is all about, well, a good day.

                              "I picked up the cash flow
                               Then we played bones
                               and I'm yellin' dominoes
                               plus nobody I know got killed today
                               in South Central LA
                               ...today was a good day"

From there we move "We Had To Tear This Motherfucka Up."

          "Tearin' sh*t up with fire
           Shoot us, loot us, now I got a laptop computer
           I told you it would happen and you heard it
           read it, but all you could call me was anti-semitic"

It's about the riots, if you couldn't tell.  Nice track but it would
have been better with a harder bit of sound.  From there we stop by
"Fuck Em (insert)" with samples from an interview.

       "Anything you wanted to know about the riots was in the
        records before the riot"

Back to the music with "Dirty Mack."  Nice horns.  Nice piano.

                        "Even the guardian angels got mental
                         Never saw their asses walkin' in South Central"

This one didn't do a whole lot for me lyrically.  I like it, but it's
one of the weaker tracks, I think.  Anyway, "Don't Trust 'Em" is all
about women jackers who act as the set up for major ganks.

           "But the new dirt hit
            B*tches all over on
            some new improved sh*t
            To all ya'll macks
            come to find out that b*tches are pullin' jacks
            I remember every night all you had to worry about
            was gettin' caught at a red light
            and a nigga gettin ya for your Dana Danes
            But now ya gotta worry about the ones in the skirt
            and it ain't about being burnt."

Sort of ridiculous and a lot like the next track "Gangsta's Fairytale
2" which is almost--but not quite--as good as the original.

                           "Ain't saw the wolf yet
                            but it's no doubt, 
                            they'll catch his ass slippin'
                            at his grandma's house"

I could put more lyrics here, but it's something you have to hear for
yourself. "Little Miss Muffet on her tuffet eatin' grits" indeed.

Das EFX provides backup vocals on "Check Yo Self".  Nice little bit
there.  Fans from the sewer will be pleased.  Nize soundz.

          "You say you can't touch this
           Said I wouldn't touch ya
           Ya fat motherf*cker"

In fact, it's very nice.

                              "That's kinda trifle
                               'cause that's a knife ho
                               AK-47 assault rifle
                               Hold the fifty, I'm nifty, POW
                               I got a new style
                               (Watch out now)"

This brings us to "Who Got The Camera?"  Nice fifty-second intro which
starts off seeming to have nothing to do with the rest of the track.

               "No lights, no camera, no action
                And the pigs wouldn't believe my slave name is Jackson
                He said, 'Don't lie to me'
                I'm lookin' for John, Matty or Spike Lee
                The motherf*ckers called for backup
                I guess they planned to beat the mack up
                Called me a silly-ass thug
                and pulled out his billy-ass-club"

It manages to pull together tho'.

                    "The one that called me a spook,
                     his name is Officer David Duke
                     If the crowd wasn't around
                     he would have shot me
                     Tried to play me out like my name was Rodney
                     F*ckin' police gettin' badder
                     'Cause if I had a camera the sh*t wouldn't matter"

The penultimate track "Integration (insert)" has a bit of Malcolm X
and others.

          "I have more respect for a man who lets me know where
           he stands even if he's wrong... than the one who comes
           up like an angel and is nothing but a devil."

Nice little bit there.

Anyway, Ice Cube decides to go out like hard with "Say Hi To The Bad
Guy."

  "We have taken control of this city to give you this special
   bulletin.  And we will return this motherf*cker to you as soon as
   the National Guard moves in."

         "The cops want to catch the nigga who won't fetch
          But I'll blast ya, never call ya master
          Who is that kickin' up sh*t much faster?
          Rollin' on a scooter, ya know I might do ya
          See a Black cop and my buck shots run right thru ya
          I never knew ya."

Nice way to end the album, I think....


Well, you know how I feel about this one.  I give it props; however, I
think I'd prefer some more hard-edged tracks like "When Will They
Shoot" and "Wicked" next time.  Whatever.  Still all that.

Bottom line?  If you like Cube, especially the Cube preoccupied with
the topics of _Amerikkka's Most Wanted_, buy it.  If you're unsure,
give "Wicked" and, say, "It Was A Good Day" and "Check Yo Self."  Oh,
hell, nevermind, just buy it.

But that's just one Black man's opinion--what's yours?



--
Peace.
                  "That was a stupid slip.  Nobody trusts a Greyhound rider."
                            - Kyle Baker, _Why I Hate Saturn_
                                   -\--/-
    Don't just adopt opinions     |  \/  |       Some of you are homeboys
          develop them.           |  /\  | but only I am The Homeboy From hell
                                   -/--\-