The Predator

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This article is about the album by rapper Ice Cube. For other uses, see Predator (disambiguation).
The Predator
Image:Ice Cube-The Predator (album cover).jpg
Studio album by Ice Cube
Released November 17, 1992
Recorded 1992
Genre Gangsta Rap, Conscious hip hop
Length 56:27
Label Priority/EMI
Producer Ice Cube, DJ Pooh, Sir Jinx, Torcha Chamba, DJ Muggs
Professional reviews
Ice Cube chronology
Death Certificate
(1991)		 The Predator
(1992)		 Lethal Injection
(1993)

The Predator is a 1992 and third solo album by Ice Cube. Released within months after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, many of the songs comment on the racial tensions during that period. The title is a partial reference to the movie Predator 2, and the album itself includes samples from the film. [1] It's the most successful of all of Ice Cube's albums, selling 3 million copies and going triple platinum. The success of The Predator is due in part to the major success of the single "It Was A Good Day".

Contents

[edit] Overview

In the opening song, "When Will They Shoot", Ice Cube addresses criticisms of antisemitism he received for his last effort, Death Certificate:

White man is something I tried to study
But I got my hands bloody, yeah.
They say I can sing like a jaybird
But nigga, don’t say the j-word [2]

Elsewhere "We Had to Tear This Mothafucka Up" is directed at the LA Police officers acquitted in the Rodney King trial; an event which ignited the 1992 LA Riots. The similarly-themed "Who Got the Camera?" imagines a scenario where a black man is subjected to police brutality. The songs are broken up by interludes involving interviews with Ice Cube, and what appears to be a debate between members of a congregation.

Although it is sometimes mistakenly classified as a G-Funk album, the album derives its sound from the Public Enemy/Bomb Squad production template, in contrast to Dr. Dre's definitive G-Funk album The Chronic which is largely based upon Parliament/Funkadelic-derived rhythms, slow-rolling basslines, and layers of whiny synthesizers, mixed with snips of live guitar and flutes.

[edit] Reception

Although not as lauded as his previous efforts, The Predator was a well-received album. Entertainment Weekly called it "...Ice Cube's strongest, most cohesive work yet..." (11/20/92, p.88)[3]. Q Magazine included it in their "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s" (12/99, p.74)[4]. Spin Magazine called it a record that "demands to be heard" (1/93, p.61)[5].

It spawned three hit singles: the famous "It Was A Good Day", which was a big hit in March 1993, "Check Yo Self" and "Wicked". Both the album and single version of "Check Yo Self" include an appearance from Das EFX, with the latter utilising a sample of Grandmaster Flash's "The Message". "Check Yo Self" received continious radio and MTV play. The song certainly got a boost from the old school resurgence that was happening at the time and it also further popularized the trend.

[edit] Track listing

Original release

  1. "The First Day of School (Intro)" – 1:20
  2. "When Will They Shoot?" – 4:36
  3. "I'm Scared (Insert)" – 1:32
  4. "Wicked" – 3:55
  5. "Now I Gotta Wet 'Cha" – 4:03
  6. "The Predator" – 4:03
  7. "It Was a Good Day" – 4:20
  8. "We Had to Tear This Mothafucka Up" – 4:23
  9. "Fuck 'Em [Insert]" – 2:02
  10. "Dirty Mack" – 4:34
  11. "Don't Trust 'Em" – 4:06
  12. "Gangsta's Fairytale, Pt. 2" – 3:19
  13. "Check Yo Self" (feat. Das EFX) – 3:42
  14. "Who Got the Camera?" – 4:37
  15. "Integration (Insert)" – 2:31
  16. "Say Hi to the Bad Guy" – 3:19

2003 Re-release with bonus tracks(*)

  1. "The First Day of School (Intro)" – 1:20
  2. "When Will They Shoot?" – 4:36
  3. "I'm Scared (Insert)" – 1:32
  4. "Wicked" – 3:55
  5. "Now I Gotta Wet 'Cha" – 4:03
  6. "The Predator" – 4:03
  7. "It Was A Good Day" – 4:20
  8. "We Had to Tear This Mothafucka Up" – 4:23
  9. "Fuck 'Em [Insert]" – 2:02
  10. "Dirty Mack" – 4:34
  11. "Don't Trust 'Em" – 4:06
  12. "Gangsta's Fairytale, Pt. 2" – 3:19
  13. "Check Yo Self" (feat. Das EFX) – 3:42
  14. "Who Got the Camera?" – 4:37
  15. "Integration (Insert)" – 2:31
  16. "Say Hi to the Bad Guy" – 3:22
  17. "Check Yo Self (The Message Remix)" - 3.54*
  18. "It Was A Good Day (Remix)" - 4.28*
  19. "24 Wit An L" - 3.25*
  20. "U Aint Gonna Take My Life" - 4.09*

[edit] Partial list of samples

The following lists some of the songs and sounds sampled on The Predator.

The First Day of School (Intro)

  • Contains a sample from the motion picture "American Me"

When Will They Shoot?

Wicked

Now I Gotta Wet'Cha

  • "Get Out of My Life, Woman" by Solomon Burke
  • "Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)" by Parliament
  • Song playing during the intro is "Guerillas in tha Mist" by Da Lench Mob

The Predator

It Was a Good Day

We Had to Tear This Mothafucka Up

Dirty Mack

  • "Aqua Boogie", "P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)", & "Unfunky UFO" by Parliament

Don't Trust 'Em"

Gangsta's Fairytale Pt. 2

Check Yo Self

Who Got the Camera?

  • "All We Need is Another Chance" by The Escorts
  • "Just a Friendly Game of Baseball" by Main Source
  • "I Gotta Thang, You Gotta Thang, Everybody Gotta Thang" by Funkadelic

Say Hi to the Bad Guy

  • "P-Funk" by Parliament
  • "I Ain't Got Nobody" by Sly Stone

U Aint Gonna Take My Life

[edit] Album singles

"Wicked"

"It Was A Good Day"

"Check Yo Self" ["The Message" Remix Version]

  • Released: 1993
  • B-side: "It Was A Good Day (Remix)", "24 With A L"

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The singles "It Was A Good Day" and "Check Yo Self" (Remix-Radio Edit) were used in the videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
  • Nu-metal band KoRn covered the song "Wicked" on their album Life Is Peachy.
  • In late 1993, Ice Cube made a cameo appearance in Dr. Dre's "Let Me Ride" video. Walking out of a bathroom with a group of girls in L.A., he turns to the camera and says "Damn right it was a good day" referring to the single.

[edit] Album chart positions

Year Album Chart positions
Billboard 200 Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
1992 The Predator #1 #1

[edit] Singles chart positions

Year Song Chart positions
Billboard Hot 100 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot Rap Singles Rhythmic Top 40 Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
1992 "Wicked" #55 #31 #1 - #31
1993 "Check Yo Self" #20 #1 #1 #18 #1
1993 "It Was A Good Day" #15 #7 #1 #13 -
v • d • e
Ice Cube
AlbumsAmeriKKKa's Most Wanted · Kill at Will · Death Certificate · The Predator · Lethal Injection · War & Peace - Vol. 1 · War & Peace - Vol. 2 · Laugh Now, Cry Later
CompilationsBootlegs & B-Sides · Featuring... Ice Cube · Greatest Hits · In the Movies
Singles"Who's the Mack?" · "Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)" · "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted" · "Steady Mobbin'" · "True to the Game" · "Wicked" · "It Was a Good Day" · "Check Yo Self" · "Really Doe" · "You Know How We Do It" · "Bop Gun (One Nation)" · "What Can I Do?" · "The World Is Mine" · "We Be Clubbin'" · "Pushin' Weight" · "Fuck Dying" · "Hello" · "You Can Do It" · "Until We Rich" · "$100 Bill Y'all" · "Chrome and Paint" · "Why We Thugs" · "Go to Church" · "Steal the Show" · "Child Support" · "Spittin' Pollaseeds" · "You Gotta Lotta That"
Related articlesDiscography · N.W.A. · Westside Connection · Lench Mob Records

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://film.guardian.co.uk/Feature_Story/feature_story/0,,140252,00.html
  2. ^ http://www.uppercutmusic.com/artist_i/ice_cube_lyrics/when_will_they_shoot_lyrics.html
  3. ^ http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2779655&title=The+Predator+%5BExplicit+Lyrics%5D&artist=Ice+Cube
  4. ^ http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2779655&title=The+Predator+%5BExplicit+Lyrics%5D&artist=Ice+Cube
  5. ^ http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2779655&title=The+Predator+%5BExplicit+Lyrics%5D&artist=Ice+Cube
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