Rapper/actor Ice
Cube has announced that he will release his seventh solo album, Laugh Now,
Cry Later, in June via his independent label, Lench Mob Records.
The album is the
follow-up to Ice Cube’s Greatest Hits collection, which hit stores in
2001. The rapper, born O’Shea Jackson, put his film career on hold to focus
on recording the new LP.
"It’s a record
that flows from kind of one tone to the next," Ice Cube told AllHipHop.com
in a recent feature. "Laugh Now, Cry Later really is the state of the world
in a way. You know, you could say it’s the state of the world, the state of
America, the state of urban America.
Now everybody’s
doing a lot of playing and nobody’s really thinking about when God’s gonna make
us pay for all this at some point in time. That’s really what inspired me to
make it that title."
Scott Storch, Lil’
Jon and Swizz Beatz are among the contributing producers on the 18-track album,
with Snoop Dogg, WC and others making guest appearances.
The first single
is the Scott Storch-produced social commentary titled "Why We Thugs."
Ice Cube started
his career as a member of the pioneering rap group N.W.A., on Eric "Eazy
E" Wright’s Ruthless Records.
Ice Cube left the
group because of a financial dispute with Wright and N.W.A.’s manager, Jerry
Heller.
In 1990, he released
his solo debut, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, which was followed by Death
Certificate, War and Peace, Lethal Injection, The Predator
and others.
Laugh Now, Cry
Later hits stores June 6.