On Saturday, the legendary Ice Cube took to Instagram to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of his debut solo album Amerikkka’s Most Wanted, a project that solidified his status as one of the game’s best lyricists. Coming off the disbanding of his former group N.W.A, it’s not exactly a secret that Cube wasn’t on the best terms with Eazy-E, who took the brunt of the barrage on “No Vaseline.” Cube actually acknowledged his former feud fact during his epic anniversary livestream, going on to provide some behind-the-scenes information on his classic record.
Al Bello/BIG3/Getty Images
“I actually wrote this for Eazy-E,” prefaces Ice Cube, breaking down the history behind “A Gangsta’s Fairytale.” “But ya’ll know what it is, we wasn’t getting down at the time so I had to take it myself…It’s a trip because off this song, Mr. Rogers sued us. He was mad cause we had the Mr. Rogers theme at the beginning of this shit. It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood and all that. The n***a sued us, and was getting five cents a record until we took that part off.”
Who’d have thunk that gangsta rap would be a mildly lucrative endeavor for Mr. Rogers? In hindsight, it’s almost comical to imagine the late Mr. Rogers hearing Ice Cube’s Amerikkka’s Most Wanted for the first time and mobilizing the legal eagles with astounding efficiency. If you happened to catch the livestream over the weekend, be sure to hit the comments with any highlights. Where do you rank Cube among the game’s greatest of all time?
