I've noticed that Cube doesn't get the respect that I feel he deserves.
1. First of all, he basically invented gangsta rap, which was DEVASTATING TO THE EAR when it came out. Listen to PSK, 6 In The Morning, and 9MM Goes Bang and then listen to the song Straight Outta Compton. Part of the appeal was the beats, for which Dr Dre gets props, but he (co)wrote Eazy's rhymes and his own rhymes. Eazy's first album came out in the fall of 88, when I was a sophomore in high school. Straight Outta Compton came out a couple of months after iirc.
(on a side note, Three Feet High & Rising came out a month or so after Straight Outta Compton so both albums were out at the same time and they were polar opposites. NWA was in your face, violent and hardcore. De La Soul was more laid back and down to Earth. When it's all said and done, both albums are 5 mic classics for different reasons)
2. When he left NWA, he dropped his first solo album in the same summer (89) as 100 Miles & Runnin, No One Can Do It Better, Unfinished Business, Fear Of A Black Planet, Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop and Youngest In Charge. Point being there was alot of albums to compare to Amerikkkas Most Wanted. He had the Bomb Squad production, which was comparable to Fear Of A Black Planet which was out at the same time. But in my opinion he was a better "songwriter" than his competition. Meaning, he would think of a concept and write a coherent song about that one topic, rather than just bragging about being the best MC with the best flow.
3. People say he's not nice on the mic, meaning he doesn't spit fire like Nas or Black Thought. In my opinion Cube's strongest suit was his ability to write a coherent song/storytelling about an actual topic without losing the listener with double entendres and wordplay. Rather than spit lyrical/miracle he was more cat/hat/fat. But the difference is his subject matter. He was talking about things that other rappers were scared to address (e.g. Black Korea).
4. He dropped a series of albums from 1990-1993. He was probably the most popular Rapper/MC during those years. Every album had a buzz and people talked about him (in Massachusetts) and he'd get the cover of The Source whenever his album was out. The general consensus was that Cube talked about things that everybody else was scared to say, kinda like how Eminem was controversial dissing Gays, Cube was controversial dissing white people, koreans and jews. Also he was considered misogynistic. Most rappers were considered misogynistic but Cube was the biggest selling "legitimate" rapper. I mean Kriss Kross sold 5X platinum during Cube's reign but we didn't consider them real rappers. Same with Hammer.
So yeah, if you listen to Cube's early 90s albums you might say, "he's not nice". But he was writing coherent songs about real topics. He was actually doing what 2Pac was doing before 2Pac. Seems like Pac took what Cube was doing and ran with it. But Cube was that controversial rapper after KRS and Public Enemy but before 2Pac.
1. First of all, he basically invented gangsta rap, which was DEVASTATING TO THE EAR when it came out. Listen to PSK, 6 In The Morning, and 9MM Goes Bang and then listen to the song Straight Outta Compton. Part of the appeal was the beats, for which Dr Dre gets props, but he (co)wrote Eazy's rhymes and his own rhymes. Eazy's first album came out in the fall of 88, when I was a sophomore in high school. Straight Outta Compton came out a couple of months after iirc.
(on a side note, Three Feet High & Rising came out a month or so after Straight Outta Compton so both albums were out at the same time and they were polar opposites. NWA was in your face, violent and hardcore. De La Soul was more laid back and down to Earth. When it's all said and done, both albums are 5 mic classics for different reasons)
2. When he left NWA, he dropped his first solo album in the same summer (89) as 100 Miles & Runnin, No One Can Do It Better, Unfinished Business, Fear Of A Black Planet, Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop and Youngest In Charge. Point being there was alot of albums to compare to Amerikkkas Most Wanted. He had the Bomb Squad production, which was comparable to Fear Of A Black Planet which was out at the same time. But in my opinion he was a better "songwriter" than his competition. Meaning, he would think of a concept and write a coherent song about that one topic, rather than just bragging about being the best MC with the best flow.
3. People say he's not nice on the mic, meaning he doesn't spit fire like Nas or Black Thought. In my opinion Cube's strongest suit was his ability to write a coherent song/storytelling about an actual topic without losing the listener with double entendres and wordplay. Rather than spit lyrical/miracle he was more cat/hat/fat. But the difference is his subject matter. He was talking about things that other rappers were scared to address (e.g. Black Korea).
4. He dropped a series of albums from 1990-1993. He was probably the most popular Rapper/MC during those years. Every album had a buzz and people talked about him (in Massachusetts) and he'd get the cover of The Source whenever his album was out. The general consensus was that Cube talked about things that everybody else was scared to say, kinda like how Eminem was controversial dissing Gays, Cube was controversial dissing white people, koreans and jews. Also he was considered misogynistic. Most rappers were considered misogynistic but Cube was the biggest selling "legitimate" rapper. I mean Kriss Kross sold 5X platinum during Cube's reign but we didn't consider them real rappers. Same with Hammer.
So yeah, if you listen to Cube's early 90s albums you might say, "he's not nice". But he was writing coherent songs about real topics. He was actually doing what 2Pac was doing before 2Pac. Seems like Pac took what Cube was doing and ran with it. But Cube was that controversial rapper after KRS and Public Enemy but before 2Pac.
