Ice Cube's Capacity For Anger Hasn't Faded In "Everythangs Corrupt"

Hip-hop’s roots lie with oppression. The genre’s earliest artists dominated it through their rage and anger, and some of its greats are still going hard. Ice Cube‘s capacity for anger hasn’t faded in Everythangs Corrupt, his new record that shows that while hip-hop has changed, a need to lash out against oppression hasn’t.

Ice Cube’s brand of hip-hop was founded in vitriol, and nothing has changed for him since. Everythangs Corrupt is constantly roaring with anger, Ice Cube’s distinct deep and demanding voice spewing just as much fire now as it did back in the day. The simple intro ‘Super OG (Intro)‘ brings the record to a bleak start before ‘Arrest The President‘ kicks in with massive attitude and threatening delivery. Anger continues with tracks like ‘Chase Down The Bully‘ and ‘One For The Money,’ Ice Cube never letting his presence go unquestioned. He stays big, alert, and ready to attack from start to finish on this record.

While Everythangs Corrupt has a specific attitude to it, it does have time to try out different things. Ice Cube provides for a dynamic experience with this record, channeling his anger towards society in different ways throughout the record. The chill beat of ‘Ain’t Got No Haters‘ with Too $hort provides a different aesthetic to underlie Ice Cube’s normal aggression, while the dramatic, if not cinematic instrumentals in ‘Non Believers‘ and title track ‘Everythangs Corrupt‘ keep things tense later on in the tracklist. The beats constantly evolve and continuously explode across the record, from ‘Don’t Bring Me No Bag‘ to ‘Can You Dig It?‘ Even closing track ‘Good Cop Bad Cop‘ dives wholeheartedly into Ice Cube’s old-school roots to take the record out fittingly.

Ice Cube’s capacity for anger hasn’t faded in Everythangs Corrupt, delivering one of hip-hop’s most socially scathing records this year. Ice Cube comes in with a vicious attitude, every ounce of his anger being just as pertinent as it was back when he was amongst the kings of hip-hop. Don’t challenge his throne just yet, though: he clearly still has a lot of bark and plenty of bite.

Favorite Track: Non Believers

Least Favorite Track: Bad Dope

Rating: 75 / 100

Stream or buy Everythangs Corrupt on Apple Music, and follow our 2018 Playlist on Spotify: