Before it was the title of a Drake song, Laugh Now Cry Later was a welcome comeback album for Ice Cube. Fresh off a string of Hollywood successes (including the family film Are We There Yet?) & a 6 year break since his last (lackluster) hiphop album, it was an open question whether Cube could still be credible as a rapper. Behind the scenes, Cube ended his relationship with Priority & released this album fully independently on his Lench Mob label. Did extricating himself from the major-label ecosystem allow Cube the freedom to make exactly the album he wanted without having to please anybody, or did it prove that his rap career had become little more than a vanity side project?
I'm not ashamed to say I loved this shit out of this album back when it dropped, so on the relisten it was surprising to hear so much filler. But see, back in the day we had this thing called the skip button. I'm sure "The Game Lord" & "Holla @ Cha Boy" didn't get nearly as many spins in my whip as "Why We Thugs" or "The N***a Trap." Cube spent his indie label money wisely, buying 3 beats from Lil Jon & 2 from Scott Storch, 2 of the hottest producers of the moment. One of the Storch beats is the album's most successful single, "Why We Thugs," which strikes a perfect balance with its epic unison strings between pop appeal & Cube's political consciousness: "Call me an animal up in the system/But who's the animal that built this prison?" The Lil Jon beats are less successful overall, with only the Snoop Dogg feature "Go To Church" manifesting his infectious crunk energy--I'm sure he dipped into the leftover pack for "Holla @ Cha Boy." Aside from a mediocre Swizz Beatz track (isn't that redundant?) the rest of the beats are relatively low-rent, like the MIDI horns of "Child Support" by Hallway Productionz. Within these constraints, though, we get some bangers like the searing blues guitars of "Click Clack - Get Back!" by Emile; Bud'da with the sitar & rainstick of "Smoke Some Weed" & the interesting major-key progression of "Chrome & Paint"; Laylaw & D-Mac's sample-led OG soul vibes on "Growin' Up" & "Spittin' Pollaseeds."
Lyrical highlights for me always included "Smoke Some Weed," which is less about getting stoned per se & more about how absurd & hypocritical the culture of prohibition is. The whole 1st verse is a diverse list of notables (musicians, athletes, actors, politicians) known for smoking weed. The title track is a cheeky cautionary tale about financial responsibility that never loses its wry humor as it indicts a culture of instant gratification. Then we have the boom-bappiest track on the album, the DJ Green Lantern-assisted "The N***a Trap." You have to admire Cube for still finding fresh ways to call out American racism & inequality 18 years after "Fuck tha Police."
Everybody can tell I'm a big Ice Cube fan. I particularly have a soft spot for his 21st-century output--in large part because of the time in my life it brings me back to. Objectively speaking, while albums like this one will never be as bracing & revolutionary as his early '90s heyday, Cube still had plenty of gas in the tank, & that's more than you can say for a lot of rappers at 2 decades deep.
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