Can Ice Cube Escape “Gangsta Rap?”

By Jayar Jackson

Ice Cube, the West Coast gangsta rap icon and member of the pioneering group N.W.A. has a new single and video out.

For many in the Black Community that despised the acronym N.W.A. in the first place, (Niggaz With Attitudes) and felt that their largely misogynistic and extremely violent lyrics perpetuated and advocated a negative vision of Black Americans, Ice Cube should not be winning any NAACP Image Awards.

After so much popularity and controversy over their lyrics that banned N.W.A. from many radio stations and tours, and Ice Cube’s solo career has stretched for almost 20years. Even though Cube’s albums were highly political and included large amounts of social commentary that spoke of America’s hypocrisy and hidden racism, he never completely escaped the gansta rap label he and N.W.A. began with. So with a new album out and his new single entitled, Why Me? is it possible for him to be seen as a positive voice in the eyes of some that only remember some of the violent lyrics of the ‘80s?

Why Me? largely focuses on the senseless murder of Los Angeles High School student Jamiel Andre Shaw who was shot down near his home in March due to random gang violence. After two Latino gang members approached Shaw and asked which gang he belonged to, they shot him after receiving no response, as Shaw was simply a standout football player and student looking forward to going to a major university.

Ice Cube’s video features the family of Shaw and says, “Why you wanna murder me? You never ever heard of me. You don't know who I am. I could be part of your family tree. Sent by G.O.D. To save the word you and me. You never know who you facin.' Who ya chasin.' The life you wastin.'"

These words are obviously in sharp contrast to Ice Cube’s lyrics on N.W.A.’s Gangsta Gangsta, “Heres a little somethin bout a nigga like me. Never shoulda been let out the penitentiary. Ice Cube would like to say. That I’m a crazy muthaf***a from around the way. Since I was a youth, I smoked weed out. Now I’m the muthaf***a that you read about. Takin a life or two. That’s what the hell I do, you don’t like how I’m livin, Well f**k you!”

Due to those kinds of lyrics, I wonder if his previous detractors will even listen to his new song’s message that actually agrees with the overwhelming opinion that this needs to stop. Those that still disparage artists like O'Shea Jackson that recorded songs that spoke of senseless killing and street life need to give his message another chance.

Sure Cube, 39, still uses profanity and the word nigga freely in his lyrics, but if a positive message is what many want to get across to young people that listen to his music, how much pain is it really causing? With his name, notoriety, and respect he still has with fans, every little bit from every influence to change things for the better should be accepted.

Jayar J. Jackson produces The Young Turks Show TYTv: M-F 6-9pm PST, Rolling Post Show 9pm.

Rapper Rick Ross, Studio Gangsta

By Jayar Jackson

Drug kingpin turned rapper Rick Ross is taking some serious heat for his “shaky” past. No, the police are not after him for “making a couple million dollars last year dealin weight.”

They’re not even looking into the hundred favors that “the real Noriega” owes Ross. Rick Ross, aka William Roberts is under fire from hip hop fans that are upset or laughing that his connection to drug kingpins was only while locking them up.

After pictures of a young, clean shaven Ross surfaced last week of him shaking hands as a newly crowned corrections officer, many hip hop fans were in disbelief that this virtual Tony Montana lied to them. “The Boss” proceeded to vehemently deny the accusations, saying that the picture was photoshopped by haters trying to bring him down from the top of the game.

“If this s**t was real don't you think they would have more specifics, like dates and everything? Fake pictures are created by the fake, meant to entertain the fake.”

Mr. Roberts failed to remember what many of our politicians let slip their minds: we keep records of everything; we videotape and take pictures of everything else. So, with his desperate denials out there, the Smoking Gun produced the specifics he was asking for. The dates, salary, and length of time he worked for Florida’s Department of Corrections. Whoops!

Now, let’s keep it gangsta. (I won’t say that anymore.) Does it really matter that William Leonard Roberts was a 19 year old corrections officer for 18 months back in ’95? Does it matter that he talks about knowing the real Noriega? Actually, if you ever really believed that this performer that graced stages and recorded albums was stupid enough to be out on the streets “pushin weight” for a couple million dollars last year, then you should be upset with yourself. Maybe he was talking about pushing your weight to the record store to buy his “street life” music you envied him for.

Hip hop started as a way for the artists to talk about their lives and where they come from. Sometimes the stories spoke of the horrors of the streets, drugs, and crime. This used to educate the people that didn’t live that life about the things that happened outside of their little bubble. Somehow, this ugly street life that no one desires to live turned into a desirable goal by the kids that never lived it. Somewhere along the way, these kids changed their dreams from wanting to go to pharmacy school to just being a street pharmacist. Since some real “Gs” made fame and fortune rapping about their past, everyone else saw the benefits of gangsta rap. If you didn’t live it, just make it up!


We’re so wrapped up in the soap opera that many performers write for us, we’ve been missing how ridiculous the storyline has gotten. Now that one of the script writers has been exposed as a legitimate, law abiding citizen, some are upset?? Trust me, Hulk Hogan didn’t actually get stronger every time The Ultimate Warrior hit him with the chair at Wrestlemania. And what’s so wrong with never being locked up, never getting shot 5 times, and never helping turn your neighborhood into a war zone?

We need to make up our minds about hip hop and our community. One minute, we blame the rappers for writing misogynistic, profanity-laden lyrics about selling drugs and shooting people. We want them to stop glorifying a murderous street life and stop setting negative examples for our kids. Then we call them suckers when it’s discovered that they’re married to their high school sweetheart that they lost their virginity to, they have 2 kids that live in the suburbs, and every time little Ricky swears, he has to put his allowance in the Swear Jar.