Ice Cube mastered the art storytelling.
Ice Cube is one hip-hop’s most prolific songwriters to ever pick up a pen or reach for a microphone. His writing ability singlehandedly helped the west coast rise to prominence in the late ’80s and he’s also responsible for penning one the greatest diss tracks in all-time in “No Vaseline.” However, as the two decades, the Los Angeles-based lyricist has become a media mogul producing his own movies and running his very own pressional basketball association in the BIG3.
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Recently, the gangsta rap pioneer made his way to the Uproxx fice as a guest on Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh’s coveted podcast entitled the People’s Party with Talib Kweli to discuss his legacy, his impact on the culture, the success the BIG3, and more.
With hip-hop purists being cognizant his pen, the discussion Ice Cube’s songwriting influence during N.W.A’s early days arose to which he revealed the inspiration behind writing Eazy-E’s most popular song, “Boyz N The Hood.” Cube revealed that he had initially written the cinematic song for a Queens-based rap collective called, Homeboys Only, but they were utterly confused by the context the song as he described how Dr. Dre influenced Eazy-E to the deliver rhymes. During the interview, Cube said:
“The lyrics was foreign to them. ‘You talking another language, man.’ And I was. It was the sh*t we talk about out here. They didn’t understand what I was talking about so they rejected it and then Dre convinced Eazy to do it.”
The “Steady Mobbin” rapper then went on to reveal that the storytelling raps that he admired during that time influenced him to write the bars stating:
“It was in the nature (Ice-T’s) ‘6 in the Mornin,’ (Schoolly D’s) ‘P.S.K. (What Does It Mean?),’ so it was in that vein telling a story. We was all fans Slick Rick and fans KRS(-One)… So those was my favorite cats at the time and so I wanted to make a rhyme that talked about what I knew about: Everything going on in the neighborhood.”
With the BIG3 continuously growing and Talib Kweli hoarding music the culture needs, both hip-hop legends have plenty more to contribute to today’s rap climate. Also, with Ice Cube and Talib Kweli as charismatic a unit as they are in an interview setting, this episode the People’s Party has the potential to be one the greatest pieces content, Uproxx and Kweli have released to date.
Check out the clip Ice Cube revealing his inspiration behind writing Eazy-E’s “Boyz N The Hood” below and look out for the full episode People’s Party with Talib Kweli featuring Ice Cube dropping on Monday, Feb. 3.