All Articles Tagged "Ice Cube"

Happy Father’s Day! Our Favorite Big-Screen Dads

June 14th, 2013 - By Lauren R.D. Fox
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Father's Day Slideshow

 

Father’s Day marks the day in the year where we give our props to all the men in our lives who helped raised us! When this day rolls around, we always talk about TV dads like Bill Cosby, but what about movie fathers who warmed our hearts? To pay respect here are fifteen film dads who left us wishing they were in our lives too!

It Ain’t Just Ice Cube And Dr. Dre: Did You Know They Were From Compton?

June 10th, 2013 - By IndigoBlack
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FayesVision/WENN.com

FayesVision/WENN.com

While most rappers from the city have no qualms with sharing that they’re from Compton (i.e., Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Kendrick Lamar, DJ Quik, etc.), there are many other famous names who are from the city too.  Some don’t talk about it as much, but they definitely make folks out their proud with their success on TV, in film, on the basketball court and more. Here are nine people from the much talked about city. Some you might have known about, but there are quite a few who definitely surprised us.

Dr. Dre & 2 Live Crew Then, Rick Ross Now: Are The Risque Lyrics In Today’s Hip-Hop THAT Bad Compared To In The Past?

March 27th, 2013 - By Charing Ball
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Rick Ross

Photo Credit: Johnny Louis/WENN.com

The other day I saw a hilarious SomeeCard meme that read: “I can’t believe the music that you kids listen to nowadays. What happened to the good wholesome songs like Push It and Me So Horney?

That got me thinking about Rick Ross. From Hello Beautiful:

Known for his braggadocious lyrics, showboating style and dangling stomach, Rick Ross stomped all over the lines of inappropriate, disgusting and misogynistic content with the release of his verse on Rocko’s song “You Don’t Even Know It”: “Put Molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it/I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it,” the MMG bawse rapped with confidence.”

It’s no secret how I feel about our favorite ex-correctional officer turned “BAWSE.” But this is sort of Ross’ schtick, right? Say something inflammatory, watch people get mad and reap the benefits financially from the controversy? Remember last year, when Ross took us on a swagged-out voyage through the slums of Nigeria for his video to “Hold Me Back?” Or the time that he tried to woo the ladies with this romantic line from Usher’s “Lemme See,” “Chanel hoodie on looking like Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman don’t want it.”

Move over Barry White! Because nothing says let’s get it on more than having your dude tell you that you remind him of a murdered teenager. Oh, and let’s not forget that Ross cover art for his The Black Bar Mitzvah mixtape, featuring himself draped in a fur coat, centered inside of the Star of David, not only raised the eyebrows of the Jewish community, but also ruffling the feathers of the nefarious Gangster Disciples, who too use the symbol as part of their own logo. The man obviously has no filter, nor does he understand (or maybe care about) boundaries. And at this point, I would be more surprised if Ross had something more thoughtful to say.

Yet if we are being honest here, Hip-Hop has always said some pretty messed up things. I freaking love Biggie Smalls, but I remember cringing like hell when I heard him say, “I’m using rubbers so they won’t trace the semen/The black demon, got the little hookers screaming/Because you know I love it young, fresh and green/With no hair in between, know what I mean?” Yes, I know what you mean and that is not appropriate. Ice Cube was my favorite quasi-conscious West Coast rapper from back in the day, but aren’t we being hypocritical when we chastise Lil Wayne for his “whip it like a slave” lyric and not thinking about when Cube said, “So don’t believe what Ren say/Cuz he’s goin’ out like “Kunta” Kinte/But I got a whip for ya Toby…”?

Too $hort made an entire career out of his misogyny. And there was no other more gangster rapper than Scarface. I remember in high school, one of the biggest dancehall songs at the time was Sasha’s “Kill the B***h.” According to her Wiki page, Sasha has since rediscovered Jesus and will no longer perform the song that made her a ghetto household name. But that doesn’t change the fact that she once thought nothing wrong with mimicking sex through half of the song. Neither did my best friend and I, who used to take pride in the fact that we knew all the words to Dr. Dre’s The Chronic album, and would sit in the back of our classroom, flowing to B***hes Ain’t S**t. We swore up and down that since we weren’t those type of girls, those lyrics we belted out out had nothing to do with us. It would take years later to learn that some dudes, despite our best efforts at respectability, still couldn’t tell the difference. Even our beloved Tupac, who most try to remember canonizing women in “Dear Mama” and “Keep Ya Head Up” (“…cause Tupac care, if don’t nobody else care”) also reminded us that, he’s only got one night in town so basically, “Break out or be clowned.While being the agent of and the voice of the downtrodden and politically conscience who screamed “fight the power,” Hip-Hop too has always offered a welcoming home to voices who only wanted to talk about the money, clothes and most importantly, the ho*s. And we have sort of been kind of okay with that for a while now.

We tried to tell ourselves that there was a bigger purpose; that these rappers were not just appealing to the rebellious side of our natures but also daring to speak on the authenticity of what is taboo. Or as stated by Jay-Z (with assistance from Dream Hampton) in his book, Decoded:

Hip-hop has always been controversial, and for good reason. The music is meant to be provocative—which doesn’t mean it’s necessarily obnoxious, but it is (mostly) confrontational, and more than that, it’s dense with multiple meanings. Great rap should have all kinds of unresolved layers that you don’t necessarily figure out the first time you listen to it. Instead it plants dissonance in your head. You can enjoy a song that knocks in the club or has witty punch lines the first time you hear it. But great rap retains mystery. It leaves s**t rattling around in your head that won’t make sense till the fifth or sixth time through. It challenges you. Which is another reason hip-hop is so controversial: People don’t bother trying to get it. The problem isn’t in the rap or the rapper or the culture. The problem is that so many people don’t even know how to listen to the music.”

Yet I don’t really think there is no deeper significance or much else to “get” from Ross’ lyrics, other than that this hopefully fictitious woman in this song was date-raped – and she didn’t even know it. And I think that is the point: rappers recognize that you don’t have to say much of substance or even be lyrically inclined these days. You just have to be provocative and obnoxious. And I feel like like our inability to call it out or acknowledge the music genre’s shortcomings earlier on paved the way for Ross and other industry folks to commodify and repackage the art form into a cash crop of the most garish, misogynistic and overall opulent images and lyrics. Instead of checking the rappers of past, many of us yelled foul over what we felt was the government’s attempt at denying 2 Live Crew constitutional rights to be as narsty as they wanted to be. We forgot later on that the group’s Supreme Court victory would later be symbolically used to justify why it was okay for Snoop Dogg to walk across mainstream stages with women on leashes and later why it would become acceptable for Ross to rhyme nonchalantly about drugging and sexually assaulting a woman.

Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind The Making Of “Friday”

December 3rd, 2012 - By Veronica Wells
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Source: collider.com

Before Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, before Pineapple Express, there was the original “high til I die” movie, Friday. Following the events of just one day in the neighborhood, we watch as Craig and Smokey sit, smoke and plot about what to do about Craig’s unemployment situation. You’ve memorized the lines, but we bet money you don’t know these secrets. Check it out.

Do You Believe? Ice Cube Says “Friday 4″ Will Live Up To The Hype Despite Chris Tucker’s Ambivalence

November 9th, 2012 - By MN Editor
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From BlackVoices

Known for incorporating social and political awareness into his music, it’s no surprise that Ice Cube has released his latest single, “Everythang’s Corrupt,” around this year’s presidential election.

The track, which features Rage Against The Machine guitarist, Tom Morello, serves as the lead single from Cube’s Spring 2013 independent album of the same name.

During a recent interview with the Huffington Post, the 43-year-old rapper-turned-director opened up on the album, his role in the forthcoming NWA film and his thoughts on Chris Tucker’s “doubts” of another “Friday.”

Fans are also anticipating the next and final installment of the “Friday” franchise. And earlier this year Chris Tucker admitted that he has “doubts” about the magic still being there. What are your thoughts?

Well, my magic is still here so the movie is going to get done. The movie is going to be funny, and it’s going to live up to all the long-anticipated wait. I would hope that he’ll be a part of it. He’s more than welcome to be a part of it … It’s a trip, because you’re looking and somebody says that “the magic is not even there” who’s never even tried it.

We put the first one together and we can put another one together. So he should really trust that, and do what his fans want him to do. You should never out grow your fans. And if the fans want him to do this movie, that’s what we’re in this for, then that’s what he should do.

Read the rest at BlackVoices

Mike Epps On The New ‘Friday’ Movie: That Ish Ain’t Happenin’

July 31st, 2012 - By Brande Victorian
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Source: Zimbio.com

Sadness. “Friday” fans have been holding out for the next part of this ongoing series since the “Friday After Next” 10 years ago. Earlier this year, Ice Cube said the fourth flick would definitely be happening and he would even get Chris Tucker on board, but when a poster for the supposed new movie, “Last Friday,” hit the web over the weekend, Mike Epps had to step in and set the record straight. He wrote on Twitter:

THAT last friday s**t THEY PUT up IS fake WE not doin s**t until New Line SAY SO! THAT last friday TWITTER account IS fake WE dont Know HIS A** unfollow HIS A**! GROUPIE

OK ‘den. Mike’s tweet doesn’t totally put another sequel out of the realm of possibility, but the question is what does New Line have to say about all this. They don’t see to be moving too quickly to get production started.

Are you hoping for another “Friday” movie?

Brande Victorian is the news and operations editor for madamenoire.com. Follow her on twitter @Be_Vic.

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Oh, You Got It Like That? 8 Celebs and Their Surprising Hidden Talents

July 26th, 2012 - By madamenoire
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By Justin Ray

You’ve seen them across the television screen. You’ve read about them in newspapers and magazines. You may have even seen them online. However many celebrities have talents other than what they are most known for. From multi-language mastery to architecture, take a look at this gallery of famous people who have extraordinary abilities not widely discussed.

Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind the Making of “Boyz N The Hood”

May 7th, 2012 - By Veronica Wells
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Source: ditcradio.com

If there’s anything we can learn from the making of “Boyz N The Hood,” it’s that you should never underestimate a person with a dream. Singleton was fresh out of college when he was shopping the script for this film around. Hollywood tried to get over on him since he was a newbie, but the man, though young, was no fool. Looking at all the odds John Singleton had stacked up against him, it’s amazing that his film was made and that it became such a commercial and cultural success. The movie, that only cost around $6 million to produce, eventually earned $60 million during its run in the box office, earning the young director a million dollar bonus.  Singleton has described the film as a “time capsule of what Los Angeles was 20 years ago.” The fact that this movie is still lauded as a classic, 21 years later, just goes to show you how smart and powerful this film was and how right Singleton was in his assessment.

Movie Madness: Best Black Films From the ’90s…Part 1

May 1st, 2012 - By Fendy Lamy
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"Waiting to Exhale"

Centric.com

While the recent comedy Think Like A Man remains a smash hit at the box office, toppling the movie Hunger Games after four weeks and bringing in an estimated $33 million in its first weekend out, it’s definitely not the first black film to make money and have everyone talking–in a good way. The ’90s were a golden age for black films based around romance, drama and more, and we have decided to compile a two-part series to call out the best black films from the ’90s.

Love & Hip-Hop: The Real Relationships Of The Rap Game

March 31st, 2012 - By Drenna Armstrong
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"BigBoiSherlitaLead"

talkingwithtami.com

Bey & Jay, T.I. & Tiny, and Chrissy & Jim are arguably three of the current most popular hip-hop couples out. But in case some of you have been living under a rock, they aren’t the only ones. Here are a few more couples who are part of the real Love & Hip-Hop crew…

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