In 2024, Ice Cube dropped Man Down, his first solo album since 2018's Everythangs Corrupt. Now, he's getting ready to drop its sequel, fittingly titled Man Up. The album's lead single, titled "Before Hip Hop," is about exactly what it sounds like.
The track functions a bit as a "hip-hop saved my life" track. Cube discusses all the nefarious (and illegal) things people used to get into before rap, and how people attempted to blame those things happening on hip-hop's lyrical content.
Cube turns in a pretty solid lyrical performance as well, about in line with much of the output he's had on his late-career solo albums. This is not Death Certificate Cube by any means, but the fact that he continues to rap at a strong level despite largely pulling back on solo efforts in the last 15 years is certainly impressive.
In addition to finding the spark to drop new solo material again, Ice Cube continues to be part of the Mount Westmore supergroup alongside Too Short, E-40, and Snoop Dogg. They dropped their first album as a quartet in December 2022, and they recently reappeared on producer ProHoeZak's new song, "The Introduction." It is not clear if that means they're gearing up for a new album, or if they'll have a new appearance on Cube's forthcoming album, but neither outcome would be surprising. Until then, check out "Before Hip Hop" below.
Ice Cube - "Before Hip Hop"
Quotable Lyrics:
They tell you and me it was lots of unity in the black community
That s**t is lunacy
They tried to ruin me, got me for my jewelry
What they did to me, police got immunity
Early 70s got him for his leather piece
Khakis hella creased, it was lots of jealousy
