I Am the West

Ice Cube | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 28, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: LENCH MOB RECORDS
• ASIN: B003NFM44E
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,600 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

As his popularity continues to grow through movies and television, Ice Cube remains committed to the foundation of his career: Hip-Hop music. Quick to emphasize that he is and always will be a B-Boy, dedicated to writing vivid rhymes, delivering stellar stage performances and making dope hip-hop records. I Am The West is poised to be another high point in that mission. Very few can make as bold a statement as I Am The West and even fewer can dispute Ice Cube's right to stake the claim. His hall of fame resume alone would be enough to own the title, but this album is an opportunity to raise the bar even higher. The hallmark of Ice Cube's best know work is ever present on I Am The West: Lyrics from a realistic perspective, giving voice to those usually ignored or shunned by the power base, rhymes that make you think and songs that set the party off. All supported with outstanding production that makes your head nod. And Ice Cube accomplishes this while thoroughly representing his unwavering commitment to the west coast hip-hop movement that he helped to start over twenty years ago.

I Am The West is a celebration of summertime on the west coast. So it's only right to introduce the album with the first single "I Rep That West." A song on which Ice Cube makes it very clear where he stands in hip-hop. An up tempo record, that's hard enough for the hard core, "I Rep That West" boasts an infectious hook that knows no geographic or demographic boundaries, saturating everyone from the club and radio DJ to those of us singing along in the car. "I Rep That West" is one of several songs on the album that will gain the attention of music fans around the globe. And maybe that's why Ice Cube says he's "too west coast for the west coast."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars damnnnnnnnn i was expecting some west coast g ish, September 30, 2010

By 

Agha A. Mirza - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Am the West (Audio CD)

overall the album is nice ....stand out tracks

1.soul on ice ..nice track

2. life in california .... i would have to say one of the best on the album

3. to west coast..its a nice track

4. i rep the west ..is good

5 drink the koolaid ..is solid..

6. no country for young men...is awesome

7. hood robbin -----is a real dope track

8. your money or your life -----is a good track....

9 nothin like l.a nice laid back track.....

but the other 6 tracks are horrible ..she couldnt make it on her own sux..urbanian sux. yall know who i am is whatevers......... it is what it is ..is stupid.. fat cat..is weak...all day every day ..weak..........

i dont know what happened ..i was expecting some more west coast artist and some nice g-funk beats ..the weak tracks dont belong on this album...they dont fit..if you are gonna name the album i am the west make sure you make a cd for the west coast ..i dunno i love cube...he makes great albums .....overall its still a definet buy i mean 9-tracks out of 16 are still great and hope he keeps bringing the heat

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OG Cube., October 3, 2010

By 

Raymond Benjamin (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Am the West (Audio CD)

A lot of people Is talking about this album cause It's not the old cube but It's better then some this whack crap we got out today at lest he was talking about something other then dancing,and how much money he got give the man his prop.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars There's Just Not Going To Be Any More Classics..., February 28, 2011

By 

Seth J - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Am the West (Audio CD)

I remember, years ago -- the early 90s, I think -- reading a review of a Paul McCartney or George Harrison cd. And the writer started off with this: "Every couple of years, another ex-Beatle releases a new solo album. And for fans of the Beatles our feelings take that same roller coaster ride: First, there's the anticipation (which is the best part), then there comes that first track on the album or cd which is usually quite good, and then the inevitable disappointment upon listening to the rest of the disc, followed by the sad realization that this is it. There will be no return to Strawberry Fields or Penny Lane."

I feel the same way about 90s hip-hop. That incredible era from 1988-1993 (Cube, 2Pac, Onyx, Boss, Snoop, Cypress, EPMD, KRS-One, Ice-T, Tribe, Too Short and the mighty PE) gave us a high-water mark that has not been touched by rap since, and probably never will. But we are now almost 20 years removed from that day and age.

Every time a new album arrives from one of those hip-hop heavyweights I just mentioned I think the same thing. There's usually a few good bangers on each cd but otherwise, it's just not the same.

I feel the same way about I Am The West. It's OK, but it lacks the urgency of Cube's best. And it's not his fault - how can we expect him or anyone else to ever top that incredible run he had in the early 90s with Straight Outta Compton, Amerikkka's Most Wanted, Death Certificate and the Predator ? Any one of those discs is enough to catapault a rapper into the Hip Hop Hall of Fame. Thrown in Guerrillas in the Mist, the Kill At Will EP and the inconsistent Lethal Injection and you have one arguably the greatest discographies in rap.

But it's not 1992 anymore. Cube is a multi-millionaire several times over and there's a Black President in the White House. The anger that fueled those albums just can't be conjured up so easily anymore.

To his credit he's not phoning his performance in. ('**cough, coughJIGGAcough*) ) He's still a lion on the mic, but there's nothing very compelling here other than partying and celebrating living in California.

Buy it and enjoy it on it's own terms, but don't pretend that it's a regurgitation of 1992, because it's not. The only way to really relive those days is to pop The Chronic in your cd player and let it roll.