Ice Cube - Lethal Injection Source review

[tnp]

Lethal Injection
3 1/2 mics

Before Dre and Snoop became household names on both coasts, Ice Cube had already started tearing down the wall seperating the East and West Coasts of the hip-hop nation. As a boundary-less lyrical master with movie joints to boot, Cube was quite the man. Now with his fourth solo effort in less than four years, Ice Cube is still big-time but this shot in the arm is considerably less potent than his original nigga-you-loved-to-hate material.
My first impression of the album was one of unimpressed ambivalence. After the so-so Predator album, I was open for a big comeback. I wanted more of the ill gangster-isms of "Once Upon a Time in the Projects" or "Steady Mobbin'," and les sof "Wicked"'s trendy mark-isms. This album is somewhere in between the two and it grows on you.
Production-wise, the album displays both the G-Funk trend and the Oakland sound. The results of QDIII, Jinx, Laylaw and lesser knowns Brian G, Madness 4 Real and 88X Unit are bumpin' but Cube seems to be searching for that tight fit he used to have. A perfect example of that paradox is "Down 4 Whatever," produced by Madness 4 Real. This is creepin' music straight up and down. You got the evil synth whine up top with sonic bass tremors down low, plus ultra-slow, molasses-flow lyrics like "Here comes the big headed nigga that's dippin'/Sippin on Courvosier/God-damn, I must have the floss today/Now pimpin ain't easy but it's necessary/So I'm chasin' bitches like Tom chases Jerry." Dope as hell except for the fact that it sounds nothing like Cube. More like Too Short, with a li'l pinch of Snoop. Change and development is Kool and the Gang but you miss Cube's ill humor, manipulating verbals into narratives. His flow is more disjointed now, forming clever phrases rather than paragraphs.
Aside from the criticisms, Cube scores on tracks like "Really Doe," "You Know How We Do It" and "Lil Ass Gee." The bass-heavy beats are on point as Cube expounds on the hoo-bang lifestyle. And there's some anti-white, anti-Christian preaching as well. A message to white women, "Cave Bitch" is as musically dope but also as lyrically vicious as Death Certificate's "Horny Lil Devil," with disconcerting rhymes like, "I'm true to the game/Y'all all look the same/Standin by my backstage door, hopin I will switch/Spread out ya little cave bitch!" For the most part though, the other cuts sound regular; nothing pure bunk, but no classic material either. If you're a true Ice Cube fan and you have all of his previous work, by all means get Lethal Injection for the good shit. But for all y'all others, if you don't already own Amerikkka's Most Wanted and/or Death Certificate, take care of your business. Don't buy the rims 'til you've got the '64.

review by Shortie.

[Dr._Funkenstein]

I kinda agree with this one. It's a new Cube with a few radio friendly songs like "You Know How We Do It" or "Bop Gun (One Nation) but he still keeps it hardcore with tracks like "Lil Ass Gee" or "Down For Whatever".

[King Tech Quadafi]

Lethal Injection = 4.5 Mics

[_That_Cracka_J]

I actually agree with this rating.  I liked the first half of the CD, but I didn't think the production fit Cube's style at all.   If the remixes that were on Bootlegs & B-Sides were the same ones that appeared on Lethal Injection, it defo woulda been a tighter CD.  The remixes on Bootlegs & B-Sides fit his style.

[R-Tistic]

Yeh I think I agree with the review but it shoulda got 4 mics.

[shlomid1]

this is such a tight album with songs like when i get to heaven, what can i do, realy doe, bop gun, you know how we do it, ghetto bird.

[MIC44]

Very good album, my favorite song is You KNow How We Do It.

[MontrealCity's Most]

GHetto bird!!! You know how we do it!! BOp Gun!!! so many classics!!

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

Lethal Injection
3 1/2 mics

 

After the so-so Predator album,

no classic material either

[West Coast Veteran]

Death Certificate and Lethal Injection = my two favorite Cube albums cause the production is so West Coast.

[Blood$]

Death Certificate and Lethal Injection = my two favorite Cube albums cause the production is so West Coast.

[Paul]

Who cares. The Source isnt credible

[BOX5 the best poster on this site yell]

when really doe first dropped everybody was on that shit out here yell

[bussy_mama]

GUYS ITS HAPPENING LIVE IN OUR COUNTRY. THE 1ST ONLINE ROMANCE FORUM www.synamix.net CHECK OUT SYNAMIX FORUM TO DISCUSS LOVE, ROMANCE, RELATIONSHIP, SEX, HEALTH, MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE ISSUES AND ANY MORE DISCUSSIONS ON www.synamix.net . JOIN US TODAY.

[felipebtu]

source is a joke