Following the relentless intensity of his early-'90s albums, particularly his post-
Rodney King
statement,
The Predator
(1992),
Ice Cube
reclined a bit and put his
rap
career on autopilot beginning with
Lethal Injection
, the last album he would record for five years. Yes, it's a disappointing album, but it's not terrible by any measure. Even if
is a little devoid of substance here relative to his rabble-rousing past, he's still a talented rapper, and he has one of the
West Coast
's premier producers,
QDIII
, joining him for almost half the album. Unfortunately, much of what made
's early-'90s albums so electric -- his thoughtfulness, wit, hostility, energy, and social consciousness -- is sadly in short supply. For compensation,
offers a few standout singles, namely
"You Know How We Do It"
and
"Bop Gun (One Nation)."
The former follows the successful template that worked a year earlier with
"It Was a Good Day"
-- a laid-back
G-funk
ballad
laced with an old-school
funk
vibe; the latter clocks over 11 minutes, an epic ode to
George Clinton
's
P-Funk
legacy. These two songs undoubtedly rank alongside
's best work ever. There are a few other songs like
"Really Doe"
"Ghetto Bird"
that also stand out, but even these songs sound rather lackluster relative to
's previous work. He's obviously not interested in making an album as daring and ambitious as
again, and you can't really blame him. After all,
had delivered three brilliant albums, and a similarly brilliant EP as well,
Kill at Will
(1990), in just three years, not to mention his then-burgeoning role as an actor. He deserved a break. But at least he took the time to craft two standout singles that alone make this album worthwhile for fans. ~ Jason Birchmeier