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The Predator
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- This article is about the album. For the professional wrestler named "The Predator", see Sylvester Terkay.
The Predator is a 1992 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. It's the most successful of all of Ice Cube's albums, selling 2 million copies and going double platinum. The success of The Predator is due in part to the major success of the single It Was A Good Day.
Contents
- 1 Overview
- 2 Track listing
- 3 Partial list of Samples
- 4 Album singles
- 5 Trivia
- 6 Album Chart Positions
- 7 Singles Chart Positions
- 8 References
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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 [1]
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.
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)[2]. Q Magazine included it in their "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s" (12/99, p.74)[3]. Spin Magazine called it a record that "demands to be heard" (1/93, p.61)[4].
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.
Track listing
Original release
- "The First Day of School (Intro)" – 1:20
- "When Will They Shoot?" – 4:36
- "I'm Scared (Insert)" – 1:32
- "Wicked" – 3:55
- "Now I Gotta Wet 'Cha" – 4:03
- "The Predator" – 4:03
- "It Was a Good Day" – 4:19
- "We Had to Tear This Mothafucka Up" – 4:23
- "Fuck 'Em [Insert]" – 2:02
- "Dirty Mack" – 4:34
- "Don't Trust 'Em" – 4:06
- "Gangsta's Fairytale, Pt. 2" – 3:19
- "Check Yo Self" (feat. Das EFX) – 3:42
- "Who Got the Camera?" – 4:37
- "Integration (Insert)" – 2:32
- "Say Hi to the Bad Guy" – 3:19
2003 Re-release with bonus tracks(*)
- "The First Day of School (Intro)" – 1:20
- "When Will They Shoot?" – 4:36
- "I'm Scared (Insert)" – 1:32
- "Wicked" – 3:55
- "Now I Gotta Wet 'Cha" – 4:03
- "The Predator" – 4:03
- "It Was A Good Day" – 4:19
- "We Had to Tear This Mothafucka Up" – 4:23
- "Fuck 'Em [Insert]" – 2:02
- "Dirty Mack" – 4:34
- "Don't Trust 'Em" – 4:06
- "Gangsta's Fairytale, Pt. 2" – 3:19
- "Check Yo Self" (feat. Das EFX) – 3:42
- "Who Got the Camera?" – 4:37
- "Integration (Insert)" – 2:32
- "Say Hi to the Bad Guy" – 3:19
- "Check Yo Self (The Message Remix)" - 3.54*
- "It Was A Good Day (Remix)" - 4.28*
- "24 Wit An L" - 3.25*
- "U Aint Gonna Take My Life" - 4.09*
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
Album singles
Trivia
- The songs "It Was A Good Day" and "Check Yo Self" 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.
Album Chart Positions
| Year
| Album
| Chart positions
|
| Billboard 200
| Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums
|
| 1992
| The Predator
| #1
| #1
|
Singles Chart Positions
References
- ^ http://www.uppercutmusic.com/artist_i/ice_cube_lyrics/when_will_they_shoot_lyrics.html
- ^ http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2779655&title=The+Predator+%5BExplicit+Lyrics%5D&artist=Ice+Cube
- ^ http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2779655&title=The+Predator+%5BExplicit+Lyrics%5D&artist=Ice+Cube
- ^ http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2779655&title=The+Predator+%5BExplicit+Lyrics%5D&artist=Ice+Cube
fr:The Predator