PW's Song Of The Week: SONG OF THE WEEK: 6/27/21

SONG: "No Country For Young Men"

ARTIST: Ice Cube

ALBUM: "I Am The West"

YEAR: 2010

PLACE OF ORIGIN: Los Angeles, California

YEARS ACTIVE: 1986 - present

WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"No Country For Young Men" is a song that appears to be about an O.G. in the rap game that's not ready to give up his throne to the youngsters that's coming up. It's about flow and presence. Ice Cube has those in spades. There's room in the game for new talent. But no pun intended, bow down to the legend that's greater than you!!

ICE CUBE DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1990 - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (Priority Records)

* peaked at #19 on the Billboard 200 on 7-14-90

* certified platinum

1991 - Death Certificate (Priority/Lench Mob Records)

* peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 on 11-16-91

* certified platinum

1992 - The Predator (Priority/Lench Mob Records)

* peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200 on 12-5-92

* certified 2X platinum

1993 - Lethal Injection (Priority/Lench Mob Records)

* peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 on 12-25-93

* certified platinum

1994 - Bootlegs & B-Sides (Priority/Lench Mob Records)

* peaked at #19 on the Billboard 200 on 12-10-94

1998 - War & Peace Vol. 1 (Priority/Lench Mob Records)

* peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 on 12-5-98

* certified platinum

2000 - War & Peace Vol. 2 (Priority/Lench Mob Records)

* peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 on 4-8-00

* certified gold

2006 - Laugh Now, Cry Later (EMI/Lench Mob Records)

* peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 on 6-24-06

* certified gold

2008 - Raw Footage (EMI/Lench Mob Records)

* peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 on 9-6-08

2010 - I Am The West (EMI/Lench Mob Records)

* peaked at #22 on the Billboard 200 on 10-16-10

2018 - Everythang's Corrupt (Interscope/Lench Mob Records)

* peaked at #62 on the Billboard 200 on 12-22-18

MY THOUGHTS ON ICE CUBE:

Ice Cube is one of the biggest and most legendary rappers to come out of the West Coast. Representing South Central Los Angeles and Compton, he and his supergroup, N.W.A., sprung to the top of the rap world with their no nonsense take on gangsta rap. That group, featuring Cube, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, MC Ren and DJ Yella carried the torch that Ice-T lit and took it to the next level. Cube was definitely the most gifted emcee of the group, followed by Ren and along with The D.O.C., the three of them helped contribute lyrics for Eazy-E and Dre. Cube wound up leaving the group in 1989 over a contract dispute. He tried to convince Dre and Ren that they were getting hosed on their contracts but they didn't listen to him, at first anyway. Though Cube departed, he didn't harbor any ill feeling towards N.W.A., but they would diss Cube on their "100 Miles And Runnin'" EP. I'll get back to that a little later. Cube enlisted the help of Chuck D. of Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad to produce his debut solo album, "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted". This album was a smash success and proved that Cube could stand on his own without N.W.A. Now, when N.W.A. dissed Cube again on their "Niggaz4Life" album, well... Cube answered the bell with one of the greatest diss records of all time with "No Vaseline"! Battle over!! N.W.A. would split up with Dr. Dre joining Suge Knight and starting Death Row Records and Ren and Eazy would both go solo. Cube's biggest success came on his third album, 1992's "The Predator". This album reached #1 on the Billboard 200 as well as going double platinum do to the success of his biggest single, "It Was A Good Day". Cube continued releasing platinum selling albums with 1993's "Lethal Injection" and 1998's "War & Peace Vol. 1". When the 2000's came, Cube was still dropping top 10 albums like 2000's "War & Peace Vol. 2", 2006's "Laugh Now, Cry Later" and 2008's "Raw Footage". Ice Cube's most recent release was 2018's "Everythang's Corrupt". Ice Cube is one of the most iconic rappers of all time. I would put him in the top 5 of emcee's easily. For me personally, I think Ice Cube is at his best when he is shining the light on social ills and coming with a militant and political mindset. If Ice-T is the father of gangsta rap, Ice Cube is like his first son. When I think of the greatest diss rappers, Ice Cube and KRS-One immediately come to mind. Though Cube is great as a solo, there was nothing better than N.W.A. and their "Straight Outta Compton" album. That's is where I got my introduction to Ice Cube and it still ranks as one of my favorite albums of all time, in any genre. It sucks that Eazy-E died in 1995 because the rumor was that all the guys in N.W.A. squashed their beef and they were ready to make new music again which would have been insane! There were a few "N.W.A." songs released after Eazy's death with 1999's "Chin Check" and 2000's "Hello". It's true... Ice Cube IS the West!!!

SIMILAR ARTISTS:

N.W.A.

Eazy-E

Westside Connection

Dr. Dre

Snoop Dogg

TEN ICE CUBE SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. My Summer Vacation

2. When Will They Shoot

3. No Vaseline

4. The Nigga Ya Love To Hate

5. Ghetto Bird