ARTIST: Ice Cube
ALBUM: I Am The West
LABEL: Lench Mob Records
RELEASE DATE: September 28, 2010
Teaching Tha Game
Photo by Patrick Hoelck
Written by Alex Groberman
Aside from maybe Snoop Dogg, there is no other West Coast rapper who’s had the longevity and success level in the rap industry as O’Shea Jackson, a.k.a. Ice Cube. With I Am The West Ice Cube attempts to settle the debate once and for all – he runs the west coast, and there is no other king.
In hyping up his follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2008 released Raw Footagealbum, Ice Cube made it a point to inform fans that he was bringing the streets back in his latest effort. No pop songs. No commercial garbage. Just straight gangster rap with no reservations or hesitations regarding how the rest of the non-West Coast world would accept it.
While I Am The West doesn’t end up being entirely what Ice Cube promised, it has its notable high points. “Hood Robbin” is a typical, old-school Ice Cube track that has all of the intensity of the N.W.A. era, with all the intelligence of 2010 Ice Cube. The song deals with poverty, political corruption and the pitfalls that many come across while trying to attain the seemingly impossible-to-capture American dream. The track seeps wisdom and while it possesses all of the attitude and punch of a young Ice Cube, it manages to pack a ton of observations that the rapper didn’t have in his The Predator days.
The growth and understanding of adulthood is further shown on tracks like “No Country For Old Men,” “Drink The Kool-Aid,” “Too West Coast,” and “Soul On Ice.” Each of the aforementioned songs is carried by Ice Cube’s signature hardcore flow and simplistic yet noticeably deep lyrics.
Of course, it wouldn’t be an Ice Cube album if he didn’t bring the crew along, and that’s precisely what he does on “Nothing Like L.A.” Fittingly, the song features cameo appearances from WC, Young Maylay and Jayo Felony.
Like all albums, though, I Am The West has it’s pitfalls. “She Couldn’t Make It On Her Own” possesses a very distinct Southern twang, something Ice Cube promised he wouldn’t do on his ode to the west coast. The same could be said about “Ya’ll Know How I am” and “Fat Cat,” with each one feeling like a failed attempt at a club record.
However, all in all, this album just serves to show why after 20+ years in the game, Ice Cube still rounds out nearly everyone’s “Top 10 Dead or Alive” rappers lists. He is the unquestioned king of all things West Coast rap, and from the introduction he gave his son, OMG, on this album, it appears he’s already prepping a young heir to the throne. While I Am The West may not entirely live up to Ice Cube’s proclamation that this would be by the West for the West from start to finish, it’s close to enough to be true.