No longer a member of "The World's Most Dangerous Group," Cube wound up in New York City upon the suggestion of Lyor Cohen of Rush Associated Labels. Cohen had urged Cube to meet with producer Sam Sever about working on Cube's first solo album. Sever was fresh off of producing The Cactus Album, 3rd Bass's successful debut. But Cube wound up meeting with Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, who led him to The Bomb Squad, Public Enemy's in-house producers.
Cube and his production partner Sir Jinx wound up working with The Bomb Squad on what would be Cube's debut album. The result was a firebomb of explosive lyricism; a level of depth that had only been hinted at in N.W.A., and an incendiary new voice in Hip-Hop.
"Better Off Dead" is such a classic intro and it sets the stage for how cinematic the album is. The thematic qualities of the album are highly influential (you can hear the son of AmeriKKKa's Most... in Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city), and Sir Jinx's love of films informs his skits. And "The Nigga Ya Love To Hate" is one of the moments where Cube and Jinx were in their bag. For an album known for the Bomb Squad's production, it sets things off on a decidedly Cali-sounding note. Cube's anger really stands out: a chorus of "Fuck You, Ice Cube." No one was addressing their own perceived negativity at the time like Cube was.
The Bomb Squad's style was perfect for Cube's fury on the title track, which shows how well the two worked together. They brought out some of his best and most inventive lyricism; his rhyming was sharper here than it had been on Straight Outta Compton, even. This is a quintessential Bomb Squad production. The horn stabs and drum patterns stick with me to this day. It doesn't feel like Cube was just taking beats that Chuck D didn't want. "What They Hittin' Foe?" is one of Cube's best story raps. He puts you right in the middle of a craps circle.
"You Can't Fade Me" is the story of a hookup gone very wrong. Another one of Cube's best story raps and it is definitely "problematic" by 2020s standards. Cube could be funny and disturbing all in the same song. Songs like "...Fade Me" laid the blueprint for revenge-slanted songs we'd see from artists like Eminem. And "Once Upon A Time In the Projects," yet another classic story rap, is further evidence that early Ice Cube would've been trending on social media every time he dropped anything. Cube doesn't need a video to paint the picture. His songs are like a good book; there's plenty of details, but you can fill in the rest.