The 54-year-old, Los Angeles native is regarded by many as one of the “greatest of all time” but he hates the term Goat.
West Coast legend has voiced his displeasure with being referred to as a G.O.A.T. in Hip-Hop
Ice Cube asks fans to stop calling him a GOAT, although he clarified that he does appreciate the respect.
Despite Ice Cube is one of the most iconic, influential, and important rappers to come out of Los Angeles, he's not a fan of being called one of the greatest of all time. Moreover, the N.W.A. legend took to Twitter to voice his frustration with the title, although he thanked fans for the respect.
“For those who thinks it flatters me, please don’t call me a f**king G.O.A.T. Carry-on,” the 54-year-old wrote in a post on Twitter this past Saturday (Sept. 30). He quickly added that while he appreciates the sentiments regarding his creative achievements, he is still averse to being addressed by the term. “Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the respect but don’t call me that.”
Here's the only thing you need to know about Ice Cube: he wrote about one-half to two-thirds of the immortal opening trio of songs on N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton. On the title track, he raps the first verse and writes Eazy-E's closing one; on “Fuck The Police,” he again has the opening verse; on “Gangsta Gangsta,” he has a full three verses, and again gets credit for the Eazy verse that closes the song out. Oh yeah, he also wrote all of Dr. Dre's lyrics on “Express Yourself,” as well as Eazy's on the “8 Ball” remix, the track that famously contains the lyric “Ice Cube writes the rhymes that I say.”
Those are the five best tracks (runner up: “I Ain't tha One,” a solo Ice Cube joint) on one of the best and most revolutionary rap albums of all time. Big L only had one album, Lauryn Hill only has one solo album, Biggie only had two-- if Cube left the game voluntarily or inadvertently after parting ways with N.W.A. in 1989, he'd still deserve to be in this conversation as much as any of them. When you get past the in-your-face imagery and Eazy-E's sneery posturing, Cube's rapping and writing are what made Straight Outta Compton the cultural flashpoint it quickly became. Dr. Dre and DJ Yella's production was pitch-perfect, don't get me wrong, but based around the basic funk and soul samples that had provided rap's bedrock since the late '70s, it didn't push the envelope like the Bomb Squad's abrasive work for Public Enemy or the big beat revolutions Rick Rubin made for Run DMC and The Beastie Boys. Cube's lyrics were the aspect of the album that was undeniably new in 1988.
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