It Was a Good Day

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"It Was a Good Day"

Single by Ice Cube
from the album The Predator
Released	March, 1993
Format	CD single & 12" single
Recorded	1992
Genre	Rap
Length	4:20
Label	Priority
Writer(s)	Jackson, O.
Producer(s)	DJ Pooh
Chart positions
#15 (Billboard Hot 100) #7 (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs) #1 (Hot Rap Tracks)
Ice Cube singles chronology
"Wicked" (1992)	"It Was a Good Day" (1993)	"Check Yo Self" (1993)

"It Was A Good Day" is a 1993 single by American gangsta rapper Ice Cube from his third solo album, The Predator. It is the debut single from the album and it peaked into the top 20 in the Billboard Hot 100. It shot to number 7 on the R&B charts and number 15 on the Pop charts. It was also a huge hit in the UK Charts, peaking at #27.

The song's music video and the lyrics itself, tell a story about how one man (Ice Cube), surprisingly enjoys a good day in South Central Los Angeles, which came not often enough on the streets of LA. "Waking up in the morning, gotta thank God...no barking from the dog, no smog...nobody I know got killed in South Central LA, today was a good Day...today I didn't even have to use my AK," are some examples of the lyrics. The song samples the Isley Brothers' "Footsteps in the Dark" and "Sexy Mama" by The Moments. It also has the usage of the West Coast's popular g-funk melody as well as some of the songs on The Predator album.

A remix version (with the lyrics from the radio edit) was included on The N.W.A. Legacy, Vol. 1: 1988-1999 album released in 1999 that samples "Let's Do It Again" by The Staple Singers.

At the end of the music video it turns out that the police infiltrate Ice Cube's house and arrest him when he gets home. It concludes with a cliffhanger ending and is "To Be Continued" with his next music video and single "Check Yo Self," which was released the following August in 1993.

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. saying "Damn right it was a good day" referring to the single.

The song and music video has been listed as one of the greatest music videos of all time. Many fans consider this Ice Cube's best song and has been an all time favorite.

It was included as a single for the highly successful and controversial videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on West Coast hip hop radio station Radio Los Santos.

"It Was A Good Day" was later released on Ice Cube's Greatest Hits album.

In her 1996 single, "5 O'Clock," Washington, D.C. rapper Nonchalant decried the corrosive influence of the gangsta ethos on the black community, remarking "If you had a good day, damn I must've missed it." In 2005, Bizarre of D12 covered "It Was a Good Day" as "Bad Day" on his album Hannicap Circus.