Ice_Cube-I_Am_The_West-2010 [Discussion Thread]

[Paul]

Hood Robbin is amazing!

Some of the album is so bad and incoherent though. Which is disapointing after hearing I rep That West.


Also why on the hooks does he feel the need to do the vocals along with the same melody as the music. Theres no originality in it.

I was hoping to see some names called out too.

[papa-smurf]

if you honestly think that you are insane, cube has much, MUCH more bread than crooked h. and be honest, you dont like ice cube because of crooked h

cube and crooked i dont even have beef.cube didnt even diss no new west artist on the album.honestly, i think he called the new west out publicly as a way of helping them get attention.

[Westdog]

no country for ym, your money or your life - I like his flow on this songs. nothing like L.A. - dope!!!

[D-Nice]

Hood Robbin is amazing!

Some of the album is so bad and incoherent though. Which is disapointing after hearing I rep That West.


Also why on the hooks does he feel the need to do the vocals along with the same melody as the music. Theres no originality in it.

I was hoping to see some names called out too.

Yeah Hood Robbin is the shit. That one has grown on me alot

[Paul]

Hood Robbin is amazing!

Some of the album is so bad and incoherent though. Which is disapointing after hearing I rep That West.


Also why on the hooks does he feel the need to do the vocals along with the same melody as the music. Theres no originality in it.

I was hoping to see some names called out too.

Yeah Hood Robbin is the shit. That one has grown on me alot

The beat is an example of what most of them should have been. Smooth west coast shit

[darqawa]

No country for young men was the beat I was waitin for.  Hood Robbin is tight as well.  Cube's flow on some is corny as hell.

[D-Nice]

Hood Robbin is amazing!

Some of the album is so bad and incoherent though. Which is disapointing after hearing I rep That West.


Also why on the hooks does he feel the need to do the vocals along with the same melody as the music. Theres no originality in it.

I was hoping to see some names called out too.

Yeah Hood Robbin is the shit. That one has grown on me alot

The beat is an example of what most of them should have been. Smooth west coast shit

Done by a southern producer lol. Yeah it is a smooth beat 4 sho.

[Anonymous.]

wat r the production credits?

[Paul]

Ironic it was done by a southern producer and thts what people are dissapointed in most by the album (southern beats).  Hood robin is the best beat on the album imo

[D-Nice]

Ironic it was done by a southern producer and thts what people are dissapointed in most by the album (southern beats).  Hood robin is the best beat on the album imo

Like I said before, for me it is the quality of the beats as opposed to the style. Hood Robin is a dope beat, Urbanian not so much. The southern bounce type shit on here is absolutely horrible. T-Mix's beats- dope because he can make a variety of different styles on beats. Look at Hood Robin as a perfect example.

[darqawa]

Anyone who sees a difference in how Cube used to be and now.  If so, do you prefer to Nigga you love to hate ICE CUBE or the Don Mega ICE CUBE?  I'm not Sayin anyone should be stagnant, but, regardless of Cube’s street credibility, CUBE was the shit through Lethal Injection in my opinion, in terms of Street Reporter.  I really didn’t care too much for War & Peace.  LNCL was tight to me, but Raw Footage was terrible IMHO outside of 2-3 tracks.  This new album does not represent its title. 

[Westdog]

life in cali
she couldnt make..
too west coast
i rep the west
drink the kool aid
no country for young men
hood robbin
y money or y life
nothing like la
fat cat

^dope songs,i like it
and others r trash

[B.A.]

After a few listens I'm not crazy about any of the songs, no classics on the album, but there are some really good tracks, a few better than the others that stand out. Bullshit south-sounding songs aside (which are so bad I didn't even include them in my list below), I still think the majority of the beats Cube selected are a little dime-a-dozen sounding, nothing amazing. I don't like when Ice Cube (or any artist for that matter) raps right along with the melody of the beat for his hooks, it shows a lack of creativity and it sounds like he didn't try and just said "fuck it, I'll just rap right along with the beat". If they can't come up with something good for the hook he or the one producing the track could add some scratching in the hook with some chopped up vocal samples of Cube to make it more interesting, kinda like what they did on a few of the songs for WC's "Guilty by Affiliation", the hooks on it sounded raw and sounded tight. Anyway here are the tracks that I though deserved a place on the album, the other 5 songs should have been replaced with tracks produced by some our westcoast O.G. producers like, DJ Quik and E-A-Ski (both of which were close to being on it, DAMN! ), Battlecat, Fredwreck and DJ Muggs (Since Cube named the album "I Am The West" it would have been dope to see him go back to his roots and get down with Muggs).

2. Soul On Ice (6.75 out of 10 - It's pretty good, at lease it doesn't sound all south)
3. Life In California featuring Jayo, & WC (7.25 out of 10 - Good beat, good song)
5. Urbanian (7.0 out of 10 - Beat's cool, a little different but Cube sounds good spittin' over it)
7. Too West Coast featuring WC & Maylay (7.25 out of 10 - Good beat, good song - reminded me of that WC track on DJ Crazy Toons' "CT Experience" Mixtape)
8. I Rep That West (7.5 out of 10 - Cool beat but I always thought it could have had a better hook, don't like it when the hook repeats the same shit over and over)
9. Drink The Kool-Aid (7.25 out of 10 - Just a good song over all)
10. No Country For Young Men (7.5 out of 10 - Sounds like another one of those generic as Dr. Dre beats from 5 years ago but still a good song though, Cube gets down)
12. Hood Robbin' (7.75 out of 10 - Beat is a little too mellow for my taste but still a good beat and a good song)
13. Your Money Or Your Life (7.75 out of 10 - Cube sounds good flowing over this more up tempo beat, nice beat with an ok hook)
14. Nothing Like L.A. (8.0 out of 10 - Beat kinda had a little of that "You know how we do it" feel to it, tight beat, good hook, my favorite song of the album but still short of classic)

Hopefully WC's album will deliver where Cube's fell short. We may see actually get to hear Battlecat and Fredwreck on Dub's album; many of you have probably already seen this but here it is again.

Scroll down the page a bit...
http://fredwreck.com/

[.:Hercy Buggz:.]

tried to listen to this, but it sounds forced...

[Lunatic]

1. A Boy Was Conceived (Intro) - Dope intro. Got that Cubeish intro theme to it. That voice with the dark beat in the back. Haha is that Mike Epps?
2. Soul On Ice - 3.5/5. Appropriate opening track beat. With this title, expected a darker beat but this is still tight. Hook is eyy. "U bout to smell my cologne?" lol. Tight track tho.

3. Life In California - 4.5/5 This a west coast bangin beat right here. Cube verse cool. Love his opening line. Jayo came simpler than I expected but it worked. Just not the typical "i'm lyrically  killing shit" verse from Jayo. I know for a fact he can still do that though. WC came tight! He had the best verse. Early leading candidate for favorite track on the album.

4. She Couldn't Make It On Her Own - 2/5. The rating is bad but I enjoy it for what it is. But I felt like rating wise, it's not fair to give it a pass. His sons are extremely average. Sound like typical young aspiring rappers nowadays. Probably the wackest Ice Cube song ever. I could bump it in the car with homies though.

5. Urbanian - 2.25/5. Beat is eyy. Very southern. "Google me bitch?" lol, retarded. Not feeling this at all. Not as bad as the last one though.

6. Y'all Know Who I Am - 2.75/5. Short song for all the features. Beat is modern but I dig it. His sons are very average again. WC killed it again though. Nice to see Maylay get to spit on a Cube record. He was ok on here; very short "verse" though (if u can even call it that). Song is basically a mess but it (slightly) gets a pass. Disappointed though.

7. Too West Coast - 5/5. This beat is fuckin bangin. Sounds like somethin off that Toones mixtape; thats a good thing. Cube came raw. WC killed this shit too. He was a really bright spot on this album. All his verses were fuckin fire. Maylay was dope as fuck too.

8. I Rep That West - 5/5. We all heard it before. Fuckin banger.
9. Drink the Kool-Aid - 4/5. Liked it since it first came out.
10. No Country For Young Men - 4.5/5 Beat is hot as fuck. Cube hungry and spit very nice.
11. It Is What It Is - 2.75/5. Beat is ok. Hook is eyy. Song is avg.

12. Hood Robbin - 4/5. Beat is chills. Classic cube spittin here. Real life shit! This is what I want.
13. Your Money or Your Life - 3.5/5. Beat bangs again. Hook is basic but cool. I fucks with this.
14. Nothing Like L.A. - 3/5. Very chills beat again. Hook is basic. Alright song.

15. All Day, Every Day - 3/5. Beat bangs in the headphones. Hook is average as hell. Another track that I can bump; don't love it by any means, but can bump. Cube ain't sayin shit on here though.
16. Fat Cat - 3/5. Beat bangs again. Can bump it, but once again, Cube ain't sayin shit here. It can get moderate bump, but not what I look for from cube.

Overall, it's not as bad as I thought it would be from reading the comments here. Life In Cali, Too West Coast, I Rep That West, Drink the Kool-Aid, No Country for Young Men and Hood Robbin are dope. Soul On Ice, Your Money or Your Life are pretty good. And even Nothing Like L.A., All Day Every Day & Fat Cat can get bump too; not great, but far from bad songs.

I do hate She Couldn't Make It On Her Own, Urbanian, Y'all Know Who I Am and It Is What It Is. That's 5 bad tracks out of 16, 6 dope, and 5 average.

But I do see why some hate it so much. The title suggests its very west and there are a lot of southern beats on here (she couldn't make it on her own, urbanian, y'all know who i am, it is what it is, all day every day and fat cat).