Ice Cube - Bootlegs & B-Sides Source review

[tnp]

Bootlegs & B-Sides
3 1/2 mics

For Bootlegs & B-Sides, some of Ice Cube's earlier work is released, mostly in remixed form, along with 3 new tracks. Some ideas were good (his more political material); others were downright lousy (What Can I Do, about a crack dealer). One can almost trace the stylistic fumblings Cube went through to reach the tight style heard on "Natural Born Killaz." Songs like "Robbin Hood" find Cube's lyrics robbed of their full potential by run of the mill, happy-rap G-funk. "You Know How We Do It" (Remix) saves side one from complete mediocrity.
Ironically, things pick up on Bootlegs & B-Sides' B-Side. "Lil Ass Gee" is paced like Rage's "Afro Puffs" and has cop voices shot down with sound effects. "My Skin is My Sin" is a funkadelic revolutionary call to Black men living in Amerikkka, replete with scratches--something rarely heard on recent Cube releases. "See you devils are all the same." he says. "Allah is a man who don't need a tan." Knowledge of self is his ammunition; The Honorable Elijah Muhammad's theology his foundation.
The "Let's Do It Again" sample makes "It Was a Good Day" (Remix) turn bad. Cube sounds like he's at the O'Shea Jackson family reunion, on a farm, with his grandchildren on his lap. "Now it would have been a good day if I had a better beat," he tells the young'uns, and he's right. This is about as funky as the soundtrack to Matlock! "When I Get to Heaven" describes heaven-on-earth in the hereafter, when the devil and his philosophies are destroyed. He also exposes King James as a sexual pervert "who slept with his mother" (and little boys) and calls preachers "Caddy-driving bloodsuckers of the poor." The album's most stunning moment, "D'VOIDOFPOPNIGGAFIEDMEGAMIX" is a trip down memory lane with the two-gun, poor righteous teacher attacking everything under the sun. Anything counterproductive to humanity gets blasted. "D'VOID'S..." scratches are like grenades detonating between tracks as "Once Upon a Time..." meets "Good Day" and "Who's the Mack" and every other Cube hit, in a mix similar to those on Ron G or Kid Capri tapes.
Through the years, Ice Cube has been able to effectively fuse street themes to lessons and humorous disses. Bootlegs & B-Sides hightlights this with some of his more underground work. These are the songs that never received the recognition of his major hits. Listeners will laugh even as those learning from Cube prepare for a mental and physical jihad.
Review by Clarence M. Mohammed

[Dr._Funkenstein]

I don't agree with everything but all in all it's a well written review! I love the remix to "When I Get To Heaven".

[MIC44]

My favorite songs are My Skin Is My Sin, Check Yo Self (Remix) and What Can I Do (Remix).