"Look at me; I'm just doing my motherfuckin' thang!"
Ice Cube House of Blues March 2, 2011
We all know the drill: You attend a rap show, buy a few drinks, say hello to your cousin/co-worker/pastor who also bought tickets, and then proceed to sit through a slew of opening acts, until the headliner finally takes the stage two hours later than expected. Then you wait until the very end of the show for that rapper to drop his biggest hit, the one song you really came to hear that night.
Wednesday night at House of Blues was the exact opposite of that scenario.
The show began promptly at 9:15 p.m., which has to be some sort of world record for a rap concert. Ice Cube and his fellow Westside Connection homie WC (pronounced Dub-C) began the night strong with N.W.A.'s "Gangsta, Gangsta" and "Straight Outta Compton." Dressed in his signature black Dickies, Chuck Taylors, and fedora, Cube continues to embody the true reflection of a South Central gangsta.
The crowd was all his from the beginning, and even more so after playing "It Was a Good Day" early in the set. He recognized Houston as the "home of the real originators," and said there will always be a Texas-Cali connection in his book. The anthem "We Be Clubbin" sent the ladies into an ass-shakin' frenzy as Cube jumped around the stage with boatloads of energy, convincing us that he still has the same attitude that has driven him since the beginning.
There are only a handful of rappers that possess an arsenal of hits like the one Cube has as his disposal. Even fewer can claim to be successful over the span of two decades. But with every new family movie that he stars in, his chorus of skeptics grows louder. Can we still take him seriously after he has seemingly "sold out" to Hollywood?
