Ice Cube interview 25 years after AmeriKKKas Most Wanted

A lot of the themes you spoke on 25 years ago on the album—social, political, police issues, racism—are just as fresh and relevant today. How do you feel about that?
It just lets me know what I’ve always thought; the powers that be don’t want it to change. They want the status quo. Nobody wants to give up power. People will give up money but nobody wants to give up power. I just think that’s really what it is. And America, the system now that we’re under and that we use, is a pyramid system of capitalism. You’ve got the bottom and you’ve got the top. Somebody has to be relegated to the bottom of the pyramid, it just happened to be the minorities in this country who have been relegated to the bottom. And you have to fight your way to climb up that pyramid. And that’s really, to me, the issue and why it can’t change.

Do you think there’s any way that can change at all or is that the status quo that will just keep continuing?
Well, I think that if people keeping fighting the good fight then things will change. If people sit back and be complacent and not really care then it’ll stay the same. Or not care until there’s an incident, a killing or a shooting. You gotta care when when something’s not going on.

And that’s the hardest time to get people mobilized, when there’s not something going on.
Yeah, because people like to use their emotion and their adrenaline to help get things done. But sometimes the best work gets done in the quietest room.

Do you feel like enough rappers today are speaking up on the issues that you were rapping about 25 years ago?
Yep. Yep. Because artists should have the freedom to do what they feel. So if they don’t feel like talking about it, they shouldn’t. They shouldn’t pretend to be something they’re not. They shouldn’t take on issues that they’re really not equipped or concerned to take on. Just to satisfy who? I don’t care how many records you put out about what’s happening in the world today, they still gonna play the booty records in the club. The radio station who wants to be so positive, all they play is booty records, they don’t play nothin’ positive. They want us to stop rapping about it, but they won’t even play it if we did. It’s crazy. It’s hypocrisy. Rappers shouldn’t deal with hypocrisy. Rappers should just be as real as you feel. That’s what it’s all about.

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