Ice Cube

OKAY- Since the Tucson Citizen's Web site is really strange, and only allows you to purchase articles instead of being able to link and view them online, I compiled some of my favorite articles and put them in text here:

For Ice Cube, the music comes first  Kelly Lewis  The Associated Press KELLY LEWIS calendarplus@tucsoncitizen.com He's a rapper. He's an actor. He's the head of his own record label. He's the multitalented Ice Cube. The star of the recently released family film "Are We Done Yet?" is returning to his music roots with a tour and new CD ("Raw Footage") in the works. He performs Wednesday at the Rialto. In a recent interview from New York, the hip-hop mogul shares his views about politics, his relationship with fellow N.W.A member Dr. Dre and what he believes is his greatest accomplishment. Q: The Iraq war seems to be a really big theme of "Cry Now, Laugh Later." How do you think the war is affecting the hip-hop industry? A: I don't know if the music business knows how to deal with the war as far as talking about it. I think people are just kind of feeling it for the troops and the fact that they are just caught up in it. A lot of them are really young and a lot of them haven't really had the chance to live their life and be independent because they are caught up in the war. I don't think the hip-hop industry is dealing with the war. I don't think they even want to touch it or deal with it. You've been acting for the past few years. What made you feel like it was time to go back to rapping? I love hip-hop, and hip-hop is the reason for why all of this other success has come my way. It will always be in me. It's kind of a career and a hobby, so I always feel like I'll do music. I did a lot of cameos between my last album and this new album, so I kind of feel like I never went away with it. We had issues with Priority Records and Capitol Records, and it was issues that kept me away for six years, but I always felt like I was down and ready to do a record. You released your last albums on your own record label. Was that decision made to allow you more freedom? With big labels, they have so many artists that sometimes you feel like you are on a conveyor belt and nobody does the little things to make the record successful. So being independent, I'm able to put the money into a real smart, grass-roots type of straight-to-the-street promotions, and it helped me to go gold in the time when major artists on major labels are having a hard time selling gold. You worked on a couple of tracks with Snoop Dogg recently. Do you have any plans to work with Dr. Dre again? I always like to work with Dre. He's one of the best producers in hip-hop, so I always look forward to working with him. We don't really have a set schedule right now but he's always giving me a call at the last minute anyway. One of the common themes in your music involves commenting on politicians and their influence in perpetuating poverty in southern California. Do you think there is anything that can be done to end the cycle? That's basically the theme of capitalism. We capitalize off of the next man, and somebody has to lose, somebody has to win. Unfortunately, places like south central L.A., south side Phoenix, wherever, are places kind of relegated to lose so that the rest of society can win. In that regard, many of your albums have become really controversial. Do you anticipate that your new release, "Raw Footage," will be as well, or did you take a different route on this record? I deal with the things that affect me and the things that I feel are appropriate to rap about. So, I will continue to do that. That's just who I am. I don't know if I could make a record without having some kind of political undertones and overtones. To me, it wouldn't be an interesting record. Are you going back in the studio in the next year and create another record? That's what I do. I feel like I can rap with the best of them. It's what I do. It's what I was put here to do, and I am never going to stop. You have done so much, from acting to rapping. When it's all said and done, what do you feel is your greatest accomplishment? My family. Everything else is a project - something that's a piece of who I am that I wanted to share with the world - but nothing is real and nothing means as much to me as my family. When you sit down to write or rap, what's the kind of feeling that you want to portray? I just want to be honest with what I'm saying. I want to speak for people who can't speak for themselves and I want to have dope lyrics. To me that's the essence of hip-hop. If you have dope lyrics, everything else falls into place no matter what you're talking about. Now that you have dabbled in so many different fields, where do you want to go from here? I want to do better movies, better records and keep working hard to improve. ·