Ice Cube On “Man Up,” Kendrick Lamar & Why He Needs No A&R

40 years ain’t nothin’ to sneeze at, Ice Dice says over a Zoom name. And it actually isn’t—particularly for an artist who prioritized his inventive freedom over appeasing the machine. It’s why albums like AmeriKKKa’s Most Needed stay integral to hip-hop’s legacy, and why, all through 2024, “No Vaseline” resurfaced because the benchmark for scathing diss information throughout Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s historic feud. Dice’s dedication to talking fact to energy has been the cornerstone of his profession — from N.W.A’s explosive debut, to a trailblazing solo run, to his reinvention as a Hollywood multi-hyphenate in entrance of and behind the digital camera.

However this week, Ice Dice is celebrating roughly 4 a long time on this rap sh*t. The discharge of his newest album, Man Up, comes lower than a yr after its predecessor, Man Down. Between each initiatives, Dice has made it clear that the world’s chaos has stirred in his soul. Every of his albums has served as an outline of social points—from the aftermath of the Rodney King trial on The Predator to the dearth of an ethical code within the digital age on Man Up. “Road information is one thing that I’ve all the time been happy with to push, and I really feel like so long as I am residing and so long as I am observing what is going on on round me, that I am going to all the time have one thing to rap about and all the time have an expression to attempt to put throughout, you recognize, a message or simply spitting recreation, if I can,” he tells HotNewHipHop.

This timeliness has turned every challenge right into a time capsule of road information, a philosophy that blends lived expertise with critique; information that comes from navigating methods stacked in opposition to you, then reframing it as each survival technique and truth-telling. And he delivers it as unadulterated fact—sharp, uncompromising, and never simply digestible.

Forward of the discharge of Man Up and the Fact To Energy: 40 Years of Angle tour, we caught up with Ice Dice to debate the inventive course of behind his new challenge, the evolution of hip-hop criticism, the tradition’s resilience in opposition to the mainstream, and why he trusts his intestine intuition greater than any A&R.

This interview has been edited and condensed for readability.

HNHH: After releasing Man Down final yr, you’re returning with Man Up. How do you assume these initiatives communicate to the place your head is at proper now, each philosophically and creatively?

Ice Dice: Creatively, I really feel like I am in a groove. I could make songs which have totally different angles however nonetheless have the identical taste, so to talk. And in order that’s nice for artists to have the ability to do totally different types of expression, however nonetheless keep in my wheelhouse. Road information is one thing that I’ve all the time been happy with, to push and I really feel like so long as I am residing and so long as I am observing what is going on on round me, that I am going to all the time have one thing to rap about and all the time have an expression to attempt to put throughout, you recognize, a message or simply spitting recreation, if I can. 

What was the recording course of like for these two initiatives? 

Man Down was recorded first, after which I jumped into Man Up. It was actually about staying within the groove. I had amassed a number of nice music that I did not have an opportunity to get to. And I nonetheless really feel like I had issues to say that had been simply flavored a little bit in a different way than the Man Down document, which was, you recognize, just about speaking about a lot of the issues that had us going within the incorrect course as males.

This, to me, is simply probably not the polar reverse, however it’s getting into the other way. You realize, it is speaking about issues I feel some males want to listen to to face up straighter. 

What’s one tune from the album that you simply really feel males want to listen to?

You realize, I bought a tune known as “Man Energy.” It might have a number of meanings. You realize, it might be do you have got the manpower inside your self to do what it takes? And do you have got sufficient assist should you want manpower to get a job finished? So it is a document about form of getting your self so as. I bought information like “Freedumb” and it is simply highlighting what number of ways in which they’re actually sucking us into this digital age. And you’ll be dumb without spending a dime, just about. Information like that, I feel, are information which can be well timed. 

I additionally bought a document known as “Forgive Me If You Ain’t With Me.” I feel lots of people really feel that means too, you recognize? Like, do not be midway on my staff. Both you’re all the best way with me, or simply overlook about me. Preserve going, do you and I am going to do me. And [the record] “What You Gonna Do About It?” You realize, lots of people discuss shit all day, however they ain’t actually gonna do nothing about their scenario or higher it. So it is form of like put up or shut up. So, you recognize, I feel these are a number of songs that spotlight the texture of the document.

You have had such a storied profession and confronted a number of the early criticism that hip hop continues to face. Going again to the N.W.A days, the place gangster rap was being blamed for points like gang violence and misogyny. With “Earlier than Hip Hop,” it form of continues that theme of combating the narrative that hip-hop has carried all through the years. Out of your perspective, what parallels do you see between these early criticisms and what at this time’s new technology of artists face? 

You realize, you bought critics again then and critics now. However you had critics of the softest hip hop. The Fats Boys did a tune known as “In Jail With out No Bail,” and it is a fairly innocent tune, however folks talked about that. It’s part of music. Music is on the leading edge, and so they’ll all the time have criticisms and other people criticizing the music. And individuals who simply actually don’t love issues pushed to the sting. Rap music talks in regards to the good, the unhealthy, and the ugly. Individuals can tolerate the nice and the unhealthy, however when it will get to the ugly, they need all the pieces to vary and need all the pieces to cease and decelerate, and ‘you are going too far’ and all this, however it’s pure expression. 

Do you’re feeling that mainstream acceptance has modified how hip hop is handled as a Black artwork kind?

Man, I do not know. You realize, on the finish of the day, the mainstream all the time tries to return and seize one thing that is cool. They normally overdo it. Typically they do this on objective to burn it out, play it out so it could possibly go away. However hip-hop by some means, someway, stays related to his roots, and that is the best way the tradition desires to lean.

So the mainstream, they’ve a number of tips. Mainstream is what took NWA from being an underground L.A. group to Worldwide standing. It wasn’t us. It was that the mainstream grabbed it and ran with it. So that they all the time do this shit, and typically it is for nefarious causes. They ran and grabbed all of the document shops after which closed them down. So that you’re all the time gonna have the massive boys coming round making an attempt to both make all the cash off what’s cool or attempt to play it out and make it uncool.

I really feel like that displays a number of what’s been occurring inside hip-hop on a business stage, the place it went from being probably the most consumed style globally to what now seems like taking a backseat to different genres like nation. Is {that a} sample that you simply’ve observed?

I assume. However you recognize, I am not an individual who actually flows with the mainstream, so I am all the time making my very own stream. I catch glimpses of shit that is occurring, however I do know that I do not do my greatest work across the mainstream. I do my greatest work within the lab, doing what I do, doing what I really feel from the intestine, after which letting all people get in the place they slot in. So, I do know that they do not love the music, and so they normally do not love artists who’ve one thing to say. So that they attempt to make it the place it’s uncool, and you recognize, some folks fall for it.

You talked about earlier that individuals will settle for the nice and the unhealthy however by no means the ugly. Nevertheless, guaranteeing that the entire fact comes out unfiltered has been the cornerstone of your profession, simply being so genuine and uncooked together with your storytelling. At this level in your profession, do you’re feeling prefer it’s your duty to push the “ugly” when addressing social points and your observations of the world round you?

No, it’s simply my fashion. It’s like once we first began doing hip hop, you needed to develop your personal lane, your personal taste, your personal fashion. And, you recognize, that is my fashion. And so I simply do what I do greatest. I do not really feel overly obligated, as a result of I may do a tune like “You are able to do it, put your again into it” tomorrow. And that is not saying shit about nothing, however you recognize, getting your groove on. So, you recognize, it is all inspiration. You take a look at it like a painter. You realize you wish to paint the ocean in the future, you would possibly wish to paint a battle scene the subsequent day. Prefer it’s all inspiration.

One factor you have to know,  I’ve by no means had an A&R. I’ve by no means had anyone inform me find out how to make information. You realize, that is international to me. I might kick folks out of the studio in the event that they tried to inform me find out how to make a document and so they weren’t the producer, or I did not respect their producing expertise. You realize, similar to some document firm man telling me what to say and what to not say–I’ve by no means needed to cope with that, not one level in my profession. So I simply come from the intestine.

“Earlier than Hip Hop” jogged my memory a number of “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It” thematically. For somebody like your self with such an in depth catalog, do you ever revisit a few of your older work for inspiration? How do you come to those ideas with out feeling such as you’re repeating your self?

Effectively, I do take heed to my information on occasion. Not lots. I do not go backwards for inspiration. I’m going again–you recognize, it is like a time capsule. So that you return, it is like a photograph album. You return to reminisce. To me, it is like, if I really feel like I’ve stated it earlier than, then I am gonna attempt to alter it. Modify the best way as a result of it is a new day, it is a new viewers, new folks listening. You by no means know if anyone even heard the final tune. So this tune reminds folks of that, as a result of it is saying what must be stated, however no person thought of saying it.

So, you recognize, it has that very same really feel, however to me, a unique tone, as a result of that is a historical past lesson. You realize, “Earlier than Hip Hop” is a historical past lesson, so to talk. However “Gangster Rap Made Me Do It” is a scapegoat factor. Individuals saying, you recognize, I am this unhealthy individual as a result of I take heed to an excessive amount of rap, you recognize what I imply? Like, come on, man. Lots of people take heed to this shit and do not commit crimes. Lots of people take heed to this shit and do not go seize a Draco and f**king spray up the block. You realize, extra folks do not do crime than take heed to this shit than do crime. Let’s be actual.

You’ve all the time been radical in your music–and I imply that in one of the best ways attainable–in the best way that you simply write tales from AmeriKKKa’s Most Needed to Deadly Injection and now, Man Up. It’s provocative however by no means for the sake of shock worth. Do you’re feeling like that side of unadulterated storytelling has died down?

I imply, some artists select to do this. Some artists do not. Like I stated, I do not know what goes on within the hallways of main document labels and what’s talked about and stated, and so, I do not know. I simply know more often than not the artists write the rhyme so he can write what he feels, what he desires to say, what he desires to get throughout. 

To me, it is a number of artists which can be on the market nonetheless doing that. It is simply they don’t seem to be pushed by what you name the mainstream. So it looks as if they don’t seem to be as loud. However then you definitely bought artists like Kendrick Lamar, who’s one of many loudest, and he places a number of thought and symbolism and metaphors in his music.

You have had your arms in a number of pots through the years, however the Big3 seems like a real labor of affection for you. What’s been the important thing driver in pushing this league ahead regardless of the challenges you face? How do you see this shaping alternatives for athletes exterior of the NBA sooner or later?

What’s been pushing it? I am a fan! It is one thing I wish to see. You realize, I am sick of, after the finals, ready for the NFL to start out week one. It’s a protracted summer time of boring sports activities to me. So that is one thing that I envision, and it is on the excellent time of the yr when all people else desires one thing to do too. In order that’s been the driving power–only a fan realizing that I am doing one thing cool for different basketball followers on the market.

And then you definitely pivot to the gamers, what they get out of it. The coaches, what it does for his or her–psychological well being is an excessive amount of of an enormous, sophisticated phrase, however what it does for his or her shallowness. They’re again within the area, doing what they do greatest. Quite a lot of these dudes are 6 toes tall within the air, a few of them 7 toes tall, and so they’ve been taking part in basketball since they had been younger. So to have an avenue the place they’ll proceed to do this, entertain folks, and play at a excessive stage… You realize it is not a pickup recreation, and it is not an All-Star form of bullshit ass recreation, however it’s severe competitors. Them guys are nonetheless hungry for that. The Big3 is nice for them and our Corridor of Fame coaches, too. As a result of, you recognize, to be sincere, no person was going to offer Iceman George Gervin a training job or Dr. J or you recognize, Rick Barry, you recognize–no person was coming to offer them teaching jobs, and so they had been in a position to coach in our league and get again within the area, and do what they do greatest, too, which is compete, even when it is simply on the teaching stage.

You’re again on the highway with the Fact To Energy: 40 Years Of Angle tour. What does that title symbolize for you? How do you mirror on 4 a long time of creating music that speaks fact to energy?

Fact To Energy. You realize, to me, it has a double that means once more. It is a phrase that, you recognize, looks as if, ‘Oh, you are talking to highly effective folks and telling them what’s actual.’ Yeah, I am doing that too, however it’s additionally a fact to energy once you’re true to your self, true to what you wish to do, and true to what you consider in. You change into highly effective. And so, that is my journey. You realize, being truthful and sincere and never afraid to say what I really feel. It is given me fortitude and inner energy that you recognize, I can’t deny it. It has that that means.

And 40 years within the recreation, like, is the rationale why we’re doing it this massive. For this reason we’re going so massive with it, as a result of that is one thing to have a good time, that is one thing to spotlight. It is nothing to sneeze at. And I wish to have a good time with my followers. You realize, my day one followers and my day twos, day threes and day 4 followers, too.

How does it really feel at this level to be 40 years sturdy and with the ability to accomplish as a lot as you have finished, between movie, music, and clearly sports activities, and past? How does it really feel when you have got some quiet time to mirror on such a milestone? 

In fact, it feels superb. You realize, I really feel like I am residing the dream, however on the identical time, too, I wish to make certain the individuals who purchased tickets for my present have a very good time. So, you recognize, that is on my thoughts, and my subsequent initiatives. Probably not what I did yesterday, however what I am gonna do tomorrow is absolutely what I am wanting ahead to. So I do scent the roses, however I do not keep too lengthy, you recognize? I hold transferring. Make new roses.