Ice Cube’s single “That New Funkadelic” off the album Everythang’s Corrupt is a throwback to the signature sound used early in his career. Many of the tracks from his first solo albums are influenced or filled with samples from George Clinton as an individual and his bands Parliament and Funkadelic. Ice Cube and George Clinton have also been able to work directly with each other on music several times as well. With Ice Cube already making his mark in hip hop with nothing to prove it is refreshing to see him able to return to his roots.
Ice Cube – That New Funkadelic
On Ice Cube’s first solo album, 1990’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted Cube would sample Parliament’s “Aqua Boogie” for the classic “Rollin’ Wit the Lench Mob”. He would then dig into Parliament’s catalog and incorporate their song “P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)” for his song “The Bomb”. Ice Cube’s 1991 album Death Certificate by far was influenced the most by George Clinton and his bands. Over half of the tracks had samples associated with George Clinton.
Ice Cube – Rollin’ Wit the Lench Mob
Parliament – Aqua Boogie
Ice Cube – The Bomb
Parliament – P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)
This would include “My Summer Vacation” which used George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog”. Out of George Clinton’s catalog “Atomic Dog” is the track Ice Cube has sampled the most times. Another track to mention is “Man’s Best Friend” sampling Parliament’s “Flashlight”. The last track to mention associated with Death Certificate is “Doing Dumb Sh*t” which incorporated Funkadelic’s “Cosmic Slop”.
Ice Cube – My Summer Vacation
George Clinton – Atomic Dog
Ice Cube – Man’s Best Friend
Parliament – Flashlight
Ice Cube – Doing Dumb Sh*t
Funkadelic – Cosmic Slop
Ice Cube’s most successful album to date, 1992’s Predator would include the track “Dirty Mack” with Cube going back to sample Parliament’s “Aqua Boogie”. As well as “Gangsta’s Fairytale 2” using Parliament’s “Sir Noise D’Voidoffunk”. Ice Cube would then in 1993 hop on George Clinton’s “Paint The White House Black” along with other notable artists including Dr. Dre and Chuck D. Later that year George Clinton would return the favor and was featured on “Bop Gun (One Nation)” from Cube’s project Lethal Injection.
Ice Cube – Dirty Mack
Ice Cube – Gangsta’s Fairytale 2
Parliament – Sir Noise D’Voidoffunk
George Clinton – Paint The White House Black feat. Ice Cube, Dr.Dre, Public Enemy & Others
Ice Cube – Bop Gun (One Nation) feat. George Clinton
The two artists would last appear together in 2016 on Funkadelic’s remix to “Ain’t that Funkin Kinda Hard on You” along with Kendrick Lamar. George Clinton and his bands have produced so much timeless classic music that heavily influenced West Coast hip hop. Ice Cube has been one of the biggest ambassadors to that P-funk sound. It is good to see Cube dig into his bag one more time and deliver that signature sound to keep the party going.
