AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted

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AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted

Studio album by Ice Cube
Released	May 16, 1990
Recorded	1989 - 1990
Genre	Gangsta rap, Conscious rap, Political hip hop
Length	49:36
Label	Priority
Producer(s)	Ice Cube, Hank Shocklee, Chuck D, Sir Jinx, Yo-Yo
All Music Guide link RapReviews.com (10 of 10) link
Ice Cube chronology
	AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990)	Kill at Will (1991)

AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was Ice Cube's debut solo album after his acrimonious split from N.W.A. It was originally released May 16, 1990 (see 1990 in music).

1 Description
2 Track listing
3 Album singles
4 Album Chart Positions
5 Singles Chart Positions
6 Personnel

[edit] Description

The controversial title of the album is a spoof of a television show called "America's Most Wanted", wherein real-life crimes are reenacted and viewers are asked to call in with any information about the alleged perpetrators. The show has taken criticism for its reenactments. They are believed to perpetuate stereotypes regarding the criminality of African-American men and other minorities, such as Latinos. The intentional misspelling of "America" with three K's equates the show and status quo society with the Ku Klux Klan.

AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted is mostly a socio-political conscious rap / gangsta rap album. The songs delve into the issues of ghetto life, drug addiction, racism and poverty. He incessantly attacks racist institutions and social norms. Though he describes with detail the conditions of the ghetto, he does so in order to condemn those that allow ghetto despair to occur, instead of glorifying it.

Cube takes some controversial stands, referring to certain types of African-Americans as "Oreo cookies", implying that they appear to be black outside but are white inside. Arsenio Hall is specifically mentioned as being a "sell-out". Cube also heavily criticizes soft-pop-R&B radio stations broadcasting a watered-down sound. The titular song on the album directly parodies the television show, "America's Most Wanted", exposing the perceived racism inherent in watching largely African-American men being arrested for entertainment.

"I think back to when I was robbin' my own kind,

the police didn't pay it no mind.

But when I start robbin the white folks?

Now I'm in the pen with the soap on a rope"

A later song ("Get Off My Dick Nigga, and Tell Yo Bitch to Come Here") returns to the same theme at the end, with newscaster Peter Jennings reporting on rioting: "Outside the south central area, few cared about the violence because it didn't affect them." Also of interest is "It's a Man's World", a rap-conversation between Ice Cube and female rapper Yo-Yo, in a similar fashion to such famous "battle of the sexes" songs as "Hit the Road Jack" and "Tramp" by Otis Redding. Cube and Yo-Yo verbally spar and trade sexist barbs back and forth, and the track is essentially showing that Ice Cube does in fact respect certain women and is not always sexist; not only does Ice Cube have a female rapper in his crew, but the song also admits that "it's a man's world, but it wouldn't be a damn thing without a woman's touch." However, outside of this song, the album received criticism for alleged sexism, as in "You Can't Fade Me", a humorous track where Cube fantasizes about kicking a former one-night stand in the stomach because she is pregnant with his baby and is using her pregnancy to take Cube's money. "Nigga You Love To Hate" is also notable for a chorus chanting "Fuck you, Ice Cube", setting a tone of alienation and paranoia for the album and introducing a pattern of obscenity, profanity, and the willingness to break rules.

Produced by the Bomb Squad (Public Enemy) and Da Lench Mob, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted received accolades for innovation in production upon release. Since this time, West Coast rap has largely taken a different direction from Ice Cube's style, heading more towards the smooth drawl of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg; however, Amerikkka's Most continues to be a surprisingly soulful and funk-influenced album.

Before striking out on his own, Ice Cube was a member of the legendary West Coast rap group N.W.A. (Straight Outta Compton - 1989). Thus, Ice Cube's lyrical style is descended from West Coast rappers like Ice T (Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say - 1989) and Too $hort (Life Is...Too $hort). Musically, Public Enemy (Yo! Bum Rush the Show - 1987)'s spare, hollow beats, old school rappers like Eric B. & Rakim (Paid in Full - 1987) and Kurtis Blow (Kurtis Blow - 1980) and 1970s funk (Parliament - Motor Booty Affair - 1978; Gap Band - The Gap Band II) and soul (Sly & the Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On - 1971; Curtis Mayfield - Let's Do It Again - 1975) influenced Ice Cube's sound, partially through his producers, the Bomb Squad.

Ice Cube influenced later West Coast rappers, including the stoned drawl of Cypress Hill (Cypress Hill - 1991) and The Pharcyde (Bizarre Ride II to the Pharcyde - 1992), as well as later G Funk rappers like Dr. Dre (The Chronic - 1992) and Snoop Doggy Dogg (Doggystyle - 1993). Though Ice Cube's popularity among mainstream listeners has not continued into the late 1990s, and his sound is distinctively old school to modern ears, many rappers themselves have been influenced by his innovative lyrical techniques. While Ice Cube's early albums most often described true circumstances in outlandish fashion, such as a fairy tale in "A Gangsta's Fairytale", later rappers took this to the extreme of describing physically impossible acts of violence in an outrageously exaggerated manner.

[edit] Track listing

"Better off Dead" (Brian Holt/Ice Cube)
"The Nigga Ya Love to Hate" (Ice Cube/E. Sadler)
"AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted" (Ice Cube/Sadler/Keith Shocklee)
"What They Hittin' Foe" (Ice Cube/Average White Band)
"You Can't Fade Me/JD's Gaffilin'" (Ice Cube/Sadler)
"Once upon a Time in the Projects" (Ice Cube/Sir Jinx)
"Turn off the Radio" (D./Ice Cube/Sadler/Betty Shabazz)
"Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)" (Ice Cube/Chuck D/Sadler/Sir Jinx)
"A Gangsta's Fairytale" (Ice Cube/Sadler)
"I'm Only Out for One Thang" (Flavor Flav/Ice Cube/Sir Jinx/Stevie Wonder)
"Get off My Dick and Tell Yo Bitch to Come Here" (Ice Cube/Sadler)
"The Drive By" (Shocklee/Sir Jinx)
"Rollin' Wit the Lench Mob" (Ice Cube/Sadler)
"Who's the Mack?" (Ice Cube/JBs)
"It's a Man's World" (Ice Cube/Sir Jinx/Yo-Yo)
"The Bomb" (Ice Cube/Sir Jinx)
"Endangered Species (Tales From the Darkside) (Remix)"
"Jackin’ For Beats"
"Get Off My Dick and Tell Yo Bitch To Come Here (Remix)"
"The Product"
"Dead Homiez"
"JD’s Gaffilin’ (Part 2)"
"I Gotta Say What Up!!!"

Tracks 17-23 are on the 2003 re-release, originally on the out-of-print 1990 EP Kill At Will.

[edit] Album singles

Single cover	Single information
	"Amerikkka's Most Wanted" Released: April 17, 1990 B-side: "Once Upon A Time In The Projects"
	"Endangered Species (Tales From The Darkside)" Released: 1990 B-side: