4. Ice CubeThe Predator
The Predator was kind of made after those big riots in LA. That’s quite a big difference between that and Ice Cube’s whole catalog. The album is peppered with samples from television, radio, and people calling into radio shows. He had just joined the Nation of Islam at the time, so it’s a really outspoken political album based on a Los Angeles that’s burning, that’s literally in protest, fires in neighborhoods, businesses being looted. Ice Cube approaches all of that stuff with a sense of humor. His producer is a guy called DJ Pooh, who is also a film director and writer. He did the comedy Friday along with Ice Cube. It’s such a dramatic, tense time, but they approach it all with a real sense of narrative and comedy. I love ‘Good Day’, where he describes his ultimate perfect day. Amongst all this chaos, there’s no barking from the dogs, no smog, his mom cooked breakfast with no bacon? [laughs] He’s just describing his perfect day and it’s nice.
