The Optical Files #109: Ice Cube - The Predator (1992)

2 Cube records in a row. Cool. When I was younger I thought of this as Cube's "serious" album--the stark black & white cover with the skull pipe, the grimness of the sample collages, the relative lack of humor. In retrospect, all of Cube's early '90s albums were deadly serious, & if albums like Death Certificate had more lighthearted moments, they were still in service of a weighty overall message. The Predator does feel more singleminded, though--streamlined in its presentation, more chaotic in its violence, more direct in its rage. A lot of this is due to the album coming so soon after the L.A. Riots (even though the majority of it was recorded beforehand). Cube assumes a Cassandra role--the ignored prophet whose warnings went unheeded.

The opener "When Will They Shoot?" rivals anything on Amerikkka's Most Wanted in terms of sonic aggression, & the trend continues with Cube's razor-sharp flows on songs like "Wicked." DJ Pooh plays more of a role here, as does rising star DJ Muggs, who contributes 3 of the album's most iconic beats. If anything, Pooh's work on the title track feels imitative of Muggs's trademark stoned bounce.

One of Muggs's beats is the eloquent "We Had to Tear This Mothafucka Up," one of the 2 songs that directly address the riots. The other, "Who Got the Camera," is even more heartwrenching. It tells the story of a Black motorist being harassed & assaulted by police, & all the while he is looking for someone to make him the next Rodney King, document his victimhood for the world to see. The song ends with the realization that "if I had a camera, the shit wouldn't matter," a line that's even more chilling in 2022, when everybody has a camera & the shit still doesn't matter.

I won't go so far as to say this album is underrated (it had 2 Top 20 singles on it, sold double platinum, & was the 1st rap album to debut at the top of Billboard, all without pandering to the mainstream or sacrificing any of his artistry), but I do think it tends to be overlooked in favor of Amerikkka's Most Wanted & Death Certificate. I can do without the bonus remixes on the 2003 reissue I have, but otherwise, when I want a concentrated blast of uncompromising, righteously enraged Cube at his absolute peak, this is what I reach for.