AVC: What attracted you to the Bomb Squad back when you made AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted?
IC: Well back then, it was all about—I was a big fan of Public Enemy. And their production is still… I don’t think anyone used samples better than the Bomb Squad. So what they was doin’ was like mad-scientist stuff to me. The way they was putting that stuff together and the sounds they was gettin’ and the noises they was gettin’ out of that stuff was mind-bogglin’, so when I learned that Dre wasn’t going to be able to work on my solo record, which I always reached out for him to do, I said, "If I can’t get the best producers on the West, I’ll get the best producers on the East." And me and Chuck D had a good rapport, because we had toured together with N.W.A. And he told me, "Come on out to New York and sit with Hank Shocklee." We did that, and it was magic from there on out.
Read the rest here. This is a great interview. Nathan Rabin is a very slept-on hip hop journalist. Read his 2001 interview with Chuck D too. There’s some great stuff in the A.V. Club archives.
just finished reading the article. cube still has it but just smart now about making money and keeping his family secure. we need another chuck d/cube collabo.
Word. Remember “Burn Hollywood Burn”?
The problem with these gangster rappers coming up now is they’re only looking at modern rappers for inspiration, not looking at how fucking smart someone like Cube, Ice T, etc. needed to be to come up.
[…] readers know I’m a big fan of Mr. Rabin’s work. He recently started a great monthly feature at the A.V. Club called The Silly Little Show-Biz Book […]