The indispensable guide to surviving a life in music, by those who know best.
After a lifetime in the game, Ice Cube leads where others follow. The Gangsta Rap pioneer has rewritten the hip-hop rulebook and now, here are his Rock And Rules.
Do things your way
I’m at a point where I know what kind of records I need to do and I need them to be pure from me. It’s good if you find people that are as good or better than you to work with, but I don’t think you need that to make it happen. I feel confident about every record; ultimately you do the records you think are hot. Some people measure success by sales but I measure it by fans, people that are really part of this Westside movement. I look for their approval on whether I’m successful or not.
Stand up for yourself
Paid opinions don’t bother me as much as free opinions. What the media say doesn’t bother me because they gotta say something, but when the average Joe tells you they don’t like some shit it sticks a little harder. If I didn’t respect you I didn’t really care what you said. That’s how I am now. Whenever you’re trying to do cutting edge things, people are gonna bite you. I’ve fought in the studio to make sure that certain records got done. Sticking to my principles has kept my sanity and manhood intact. I don’t feel I’ve sold my soul to get to where I am. Sticking to your guns, being your own man, not bowing to power makes you your own person and you don’t feel like you’ve been manipulated into anything.
Put your opinion into your records
When you learn about your ancestors’ plight it pisses you off and I figured the only way to combat that was making records. I made records about how I felt about these issues and they’re very opinionated but, it is what it is. A lot of people learned a lot from them, things that they should know. On my records nobody gets a free ride. White, black, male, female, no matter who you are everybody is examined and exposed.
Stay true to your roots
My hometown is who I am. It’s why people respond to what I do. It’s not because I’m famous, it’s because of the kind of work that I put out. The only reason I put it out is where I come from. The music comes up in that way because I’m from South Central Los Angeles. I can never lose that part of me because then there might not be a reason to care about my opinion.
Don’t think about the past
I try to be fresh for today, to make sure that I’m not resting on what I’ve done and just worry about what I’m about to do. I know it’s gotta be hot, but it’s more important that it’s gotta be me. I can make hot trendy records for the time but who wants to hear that shit from Ice Cube? I make sure that I don’t get impulsive and just do a record that’s gonna bang right now. I want my records to bang forever and all time.
Words By Ben Homewood
‘I Am The West’ is out now on Lench Mob Records.
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