Ice Cube brought his Truth To Power tour to Atlanta, Georgia on Oct. 14. Four Decades of Attitude was on full display at the city’s State Farm Arena which was buzzing with diehard, day one fans of the west coast emcee.
This one-man show did not disappoint and gave far more than today’s typical concerts. For starters, the set was a mashup of stages, an upper level stage outfitted with a pair of low riders and a lower level stage that introduced modern technology, in the form of amalgamated reality (AR), to Cube’s nostalgic offering.
Cube integrated the stage backdrop as an overhead projector and digital photo album to aid in the visual storytelling of his life story. The NWA expat paired performance with songs and tales that were laced with a historical narrative, that led the audience from his pre-Ice Cube era—before he ever picked up a mic— when he was just young O’Shea Jackson. After sharing pictures from his childhood, Cube paid homage to his older sister Beverly, who died at the hands of her husband, who happened to be a cop. In that moment, it is crystallized that Ice Cube’s ire toward law enforcement is not solely based on profiling and state sanctioned violence against Black and brown communities—but also personal. Cube told fans that Beverly’s death had a profound impact on him at 12-years-old. The loss of innocence has certainly contributed to his writing, becoming a rapper and a nigga with an attitude (NWA). Sharing that insight was the perfect segue into the first song of the night: “Fuck the Police.”
Cube took the crowd down memory lane with “Dopeman,” and then to his encounter and camaraderie with Eric “Eazy E” Wright. The friendship morphed into the iconic rap group NWA which would go on to be one of the most influential rap groups in Hip-Hop, making gangsta rap a commercial commodity. The Los Angeles rapper welcomed Lil Eazy, Easy E’s son, on stage to perform the monumental song “Boyz in the Hood.”
Cube went back and forth between commentary and performance. He got into his NWA bag with “Straight Outta Compton,” and transitioned into story and song around his departure from the group; recording AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted in NYC; the Lench Mob; John Singleton and his critically-acclaimed album Death Certificate. He gave shoutouts to Friday movie alums Chris Tucker and Faizon Love, who were part of the audience. His fans were “Steady Mobbin” and mouthing lyrics to “Check Ya’self.”
The “No Vaseline” artist pulled no punches while expressing his thoughts on tensions in Hip-Hop: Ice Cube said the “East Coast-West Coast beef didn’t start with Tupac and Biggie,” before reminding concertgoers of the 1991 squabble between him and Tim Dog, which actually predates the latter coastal rivalry.
It is hard to visit Cube’s musical past without all three members of Westside Connection, but it is refreshing to see WC crip-dancing alongside the homie to “Bow Down” and other hits, and it is as refreshing to witness Warren G perform “Regulators” once again. The icing on the cake, though, would have been a cameo from Yo-Yo and Das EFX. These absences, in particular, feel like missed opportunities. The concert crescendo, though, kinda makes up for this and is epic indeed. The rapper, producer, filmmaker and icon, concluded the show with “It Was A Good Day,” Ice Cube’s highest-charting single to date, as a Goodyear blimp floated the arena; its ticker read: “Ice Cube’s A Pimp.”
The rollout, pacing and timing of Cube’s delivery is on point from kickoff to close. The themes around resistance, reclamation, reunification and Black joy are aligned with Hip-Hop history, weaving through four decades of Hip-Hop experience. The Truth To Power: Four Decades of Attitude tour commits to memory and music and Ice Cube’s heft as a Hip-Hop legend and pioneer. Ice Cube really is a pimp.
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