Music Raw Footage
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - Great Album
This is a great cd. To all that say ice cube doesn't have it in him any more is dead wrong. all the tracks are great.

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Rating: - Welcome to the Gangster Rap Revival
I have been a fan of Ice Cube since he first exploded onto the scene with NWA in the 1980's. His vocals were very socially progressive and laced with the anger that appealed to gangster rap fans.

His new opus harkens back to some of than same sentiment but is updated for the new century. Ice Cube no longer gets stuck in the "Don Mega" trappings that many of his early CD's from the late nineties and early 2000's fell into. He once again comments on society with insightful lyrics laid over heavy baselines.

If you were a fan of his early works like Predator or Death Certificate and than this would be a good CD for purchase or download.

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Rating: - Overall it is good, but we heard this somewhere before....
For those of you that have his "Laugh Now, Cry Later" CD, you will be feeling the déjà vu kicking in. Entire lines lifted from it.

But either way, at least he's consistent, and the album is pretty good from beginning to end.

As with a good deal of the OG rappers out there, Ice Cube is bringing God into the mix. Nothing ruins a "hardcore rap/gangsta rap" album quicker than going all religious. A song about shooting other people sits only a couple tracks away from a song about questioning people's motives for shooting other people. Huh? It's like Snoop ending his CD with a Christian Gospel song... please, it's just sad. You want to sing about God? go do a Gospel CD.

Minus one star for mentioning God on your gangsta rap CD: that's not gangsta, and that's certainly not "Westside". But the rest of the CD is good.

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Rating: - Not as raw as he used to be but still abrasive
Let's face it- Ice Cube's cultural relevance has waned. While hood ills grip urban America just as they did 20 years ago, Ice Cube's poetic hatred has lost some of its fire. In "Raw Footage," Cube continually makes excuses for urban ills, blaming society, the white man, prisons, etc. He's just lobbing darts as the oppressor's dartboard, and while he's right to a point, he doesn't seem as hard on the hood for reveling and glorifying the poison that keeps the vicious cycle oiled (though "Hood Mentality" is a notable exception). Otherwise, he just raps about defending his livelihood and how other MCs can't touch his "pyroclastic flow."

Of course, this is THE Ice Cube, and he's as smooth and lyrical as ever, and his wordsmithing is in fine form. He's also experimenting with new beats, injecting a few Dirty South- tinged hooks (a trend that began with LNCL's "Go to Church"). He's also lathered on a generous helping of So Cal swagger and cool grooves that seem made to bounce to in your lowrider.

Yet there's something missing, and it's the dark, savage attitude that characterized his earlier work when he was young, angry, and had a genuine machine to rage against. Now, after staggering success and numerous Hollywood hits (including several Disney productions!?!), his flow seems less venomous and somewhat hypocritical. There are some positive messages and true connection to the hood in "Raw Footage," but Cube has to try harder these days to be taken seriously, and it shows. 3 1/5 stars.