Ice Cube Talks Kanye, Lupe And NWA Memories

"I like what Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco are doing and where they are taking hip-hop," Cube said in an interview with Hustler Magazine. "Those are good styles that are making hip-hop grow. It's not dying as people say just because the mainstream is not paying attention anymore. It's just back to where it came from--underground. In the '90s, mainstream took hip-hop and tried to play it out. Rap is something that can't die because it's the voice of the youth. There is always something to be said by somebody somewhere, and there's so many ways to say it now."

"My best memory was that we were doing something constructive," explained Cube. "You know what I mean? There were so many things to get into that weren’t constructive. I felt good that I was doing something that was not only fun, but also being a part of Hip Hop and being respected. Even before N.W.A. it was about finding something to do. Because I grew up in an area [of South Central Los Angeles] where we used to have after-school programs. We used to have Little League. But as soon as I came of age, all those things started leaving the community. We were still into football and basketball, but the parks were closing, and things started to dwindle."

Cube continued, adding, "We were looking for more things to get into. You could either get into good shit or get into bad shit. Hip-hop was good even though adults didn’t like it. It had a good energy. With N.W.A., I was around people that were making records. We had a style that we knew people in our neighborhood liked, but didn’t know people would like around the world. So being West Coast rappers, we went for it! I still haven’t come down off that cloud which has carried me on this journey. I’m still riding that same wave that started when I was 17 years old."