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AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990)

Where the lyrics of AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted take you, and where it was really made.

The album's title parodies a television crime show, and its sleeve-free debut was made without a single or video to push it up the charts.

Key places

Where the album was recorded (1990)

Recording site Greene St. Recording — The album was recorded at Greene St. Recording in New York City, as listed in the release credits. The studio is the recording location named on the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted: debut studio album by American rapper Ice Cube
• Released May 16, 1990 by Priority Records
• First solo album after an acrimonious split from the group N.W.A
• Primarily produced by Public Enemy's production team the Bomb Squad
• Content: ghetto life, drug addiction, racism and poverty
• Title track directly parodies the television show America's Most Wanted

Background

• Ice Cube immediately moved to record his own album after leaving Ruthless Records and N.W.A
• Cube maintains Dr. Dre wanted to produce the debut, but label powers nixed the move
• Sir Jinx, Dr. Dre's cousin, joined the project
• Early songs came from pre-written notebooks meant for Eazy-E
• After relocating to New York, the songs were worked on
• The Bomb Squad was contacted to complete the album

Recording

• Recorded at Greene St. Recording in New York City, per the release credits
• Hank Shocklee recalled Cube arriving at the studio with notebooks full of new rhymes
• Production credits spread across various Bomb Squad members, with an appearance by Chuck D

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born O'Shea Jackson in Los Angeles on June 15, 1969; stage name from his older brother's teasing.
• Formed the trio C.I.A. in 1986 at age 16, then joined N.W.A.
• Left N.W.A in late 1989 over a monetary dispute with the group's management.

Career

• Lead rapper and main lyricist of N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton (1989), shaping gangsta rap's early identity.
• Solo albums AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), Death Certificate (1991) and The Predator (1992) were critically and commercially successful; The Predator debuted at No. 1 on both the R&B/hip-hop and pop charts.
• Co-founded the Westside Connection with Mack 10 and WC in 1995.
• Acting career from 1991's Boyz n the Hood; co-wrote and starred in Friday (1995) and directed The Players Club (1998).
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an N.W.A member in 2016.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The Washington Post, David Mills: wrote that "Ice Cube has now proven that he was N.W.A.'s crucial element"
• The Source: said the Bomb Squad had "really outdone" themselves on the beats
• NME, Steven Wells: called the album "alternately appalling, refreshing, confused and dynamic"
• Entertainment Weekly, Greg Sandow: called it an important social document but not necessarily cohesive art
• The Village Voice, Robert Christgau: found the lyrics generally distasteful despite the gift for rhyme and narrative
• Rolling Stone, Alan Light: declared the album a disappointment and criticized the profanity and attitudes toward women

Reappraisal

• AllMusic, David Jeffries: retrospective review praised the album as a timeless, riveting exercise
• The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Peter Relic: praised the menacing, unflinchingly fierce rhymes
• Alan Light: reappraised the album in the liner notes of its 2003 reissue
• Pitchfork, Eric Harvey: called it a groundbreaking record that ushered hip hop into the tabloid decade

Records

• Debuted at number 19 on the US Billboard 200
• Certified gold by the RIAA about two weeks after release for over 500,000 copies
• Certified platinum in the United States on June 23, 1990
• Certification milestones noted in the album's commercial history

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track parodies America's Most Wanted, alleging bias and denouncing the glee the program displays in arresting African-American men.
• Cube said Dr. Dre wanted to make the record, and that Jerry Heller vetoed that.
• The rare video for Who's the Mack? surfaced later and was directed by Alex Winter.
• Jackin' for Beats was recorded with beats allegedly planned for the next N.W.A album, and Cube used it several months later on the Kill at Will EP.
• East Coast rapper Redman also covered Once Upon a Time in the Projects on his album Doc's Da Name 2000.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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