It’s a shame: an emcee is part a classic album with a superstar group, makes two classic albums on his own… and then falls off in his mid 20’s. Ice Cube is now 31 years old, but while other legends have continued well into their late 30’s, Cube hasn’t made a critically acclaimed album since Death Certificate in 1991. What happened? He made money, he got jiggy (west-coast style), and he continues to do it on his latest release, War and Peace, Vol 2: The Peace Disc.
Cube is no longer political like he was with N.W.A. It is understandable that after 7 solo albums, an artist may run out of original concepts. Or maybe he has just been passed up by a generation of younger, more hungry emcees. The tendency, you would think, would be for a person to mature with age and express that in music, but Ice Cube has done the opposite. The main topics on the new album are women, and complaining for what Cube sees as lack of respect. To his credit, more relevant topics do surface now and then, and these are indeed some of the more enjoyable tracks.
Though it may not be one of the aforementioned concepts, “Hell Low” is another N.W.A. reunion that will have the listener fiending for a full-length reunion album. These songs bring Cube back to his old form, and while “Hell Low” is not political or legendary like “Fuck tha Police,” it is hardcore lyrics over a typically dope Dre beat. “Gutter Shit” is another decent song, which features a surprisingly nice appearance from Jayo Felony. Nothing great, but decent.
“Until We Rich” is a blatantly jacked beat from AZ’s song “How Ya Livin.” From what I can tell, it is not even altered a little bit (I’m sure it is, but it doesn’t sound like it). Featuring Krazie Bone, the lyrics on the song are mediocre, and the lack of creativity makes it a forgettable track. After this comes the asinine “You Can Do It,” a perfect example of how Ice Cube has become wack. He makes music for people in clubs, not hip hoppers. This may be one of the worst, gimmicky radio-friendly hip hop songs of all-time.
“Record Company Pimpin” is a more inspired song about the business side of the industry, something Cube doesn’t speak kindly about. It seems curiously influenced by the Del (Cube’s cousin) track “Del’s Nightmare.” “It went from please listen to my demo/ to get your ass out my limo/ to stretch presidential, it’s essential/ cause the record company’ll have your ass in a rental/ if you let ‘em..” The beat is laid back, and while it’s not the most exciting song on the album, the effort is an admirable change of pace. “Waitin Ta Hate” and “Nigga of the Century” end the album on a more up-tempo vibe.
There are clearly two sides of Ice Cube’s personality waging a war with each other: the dance club, money-making player, and the gritty, hardcore kid who was with N.W.A. It shouldn’t be a hard choice to make. One side makes classic material, and the other makes noise like “You Can Do It” that is painful to hip hop ears. Yet, for some reason, this choice has plagued Cube for almost a decade, and despite talk of an N.W.A. reunion, he remains caught in this state of confusion.
-Joe Kostelnik
