Between "Straight Outta Compton," and Dr. Dre's accompanying soundtrack, N.W.A. has definitely been the hot topic of the last couple of days. We've heard a bit about the film from Dr. Dre recently, and now Ice Cube is reflecting on his former group.
Speaking with XXL, Ice Cube spoke on recent arguments that politics are "missing" from current rap, whether or not N.W.A. could find mainstream success in 2015, and his future film projects.
Take a look at some excerpts from the sit-down below, and read the full interview here.
On how the rap climate has changed since the days of N.W.A.:
It was just kind of a different time. Those kinds of records, I don’t believe they would blow those records up where they are popular all over the radio and taken to the top of the charts. Ours was so new and revolutionary that you had to have it. So we caught a wave that wasn’t there before us. So it was different circumstances. Now, they kind of filter what kind of hip-hop makes it to the top. There’s different issues and I think they’re looking for this kind of rap now; before it came out of nowhere. Now, the people who really want to suppress this kind of music really know how to do it. So always fight to be heard.
On whether N.W.A. and Tupac could exist today:
We could exist, but I don’t know if we could reach the tip top, like we did. It was so new, music going in that direction. So we set the standard. We set the bar.
On working with Nicki Minaj on Barbershop 3:
She did a great job. She was really focused and into the role. We were able to capture what we were looking for and turn it into a character. That’s pretty much what you want from anybody that’s doing it and is not a 24/7, 365 actor and somebody that’s coming from music into this. This isn’t her first movie, so she did great and I’m excited that people get to see her as part of the Barbershop.
