DX: Veteran rappers like yourself, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Nas are maturing as men. What is the catalyst behind the recent surge of concept albums with more meaning from our rap icons?
Ice Cube: I think really it's uh, people are sick of bubble gum pop rap to the point where...especially the older heads, we don't want that. We want something with some substance in it. I just think we're catering to our fan base. I'm pretty sure Nas got a fan base that's similar to mine and he caters to them and that's what we gon' do. We're not gonna cater to the whole Hip Hop universe, we're just gonna cater to our fans and everybody else is gon' have to come on in.

DX: Who are some of the music-men that you worked with on Raw Footage. How did a song like "Cold Places" come about?
Ice Cube: "Cold Places" is Hallway Productions. They did a few songs on Laugh Now, Cry Later, some young dudes out of Northern California and they're incredible. Emile from New York got down with us and he did "It Takes a Nation of Millions" and "Get Money, Spend Money, No Money" and Pablo Beats is a new dude who did the single "Do Your Thang" and Maestro [click to read] did "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It." We got a few people on there, new heads that's comin' up in the game. I always like using new producers 'cause it aint really about the name it's really about the music.

DX: Recently A Tribe Called Quest reunited. When can fans get an Ice Cube and Sir Jinx reunion? 2009?
Ice Cube: [Laughs] You never know. Jinx, he's always hangin' around, you know? But you know Jinx is a free-spirit kind of dude with his own personality and flavor so you know, it's hard to catch up with him and keep him under lock and key. But you never know, man.

DX: So there's nothing the way of y'all working together again? There's a history of classic material...
Ice Cube: No, not at all. Jinx is my homie first. That's Dr. Dre's cousin, and without Jinx, I wouldn't be where I am today. It's always love.

DX: How did the song "Get Used To It" with The Game come about?
Ice Cube: Well you know, me and The Game [click to read] been down since the start of his career and ya know, we always looking for ways to work together and collaborate...

DX: You're like a mentor in a sense...
Ice Cube: I hope so. I always try to give him advice on things I see or he asks about. He wanted me to do a hook on his record ["State of Emergency"] and I wanted him to do a verse on mine. "Get Used To It" was the perfect song with me, [The and WC [click to read]. So you know, I think it's hot.

DX: Is there any truth to the rumor that The Game is the newest member of Westside Connection?
Ice Cube: Maybe…

DX: He went off on "Get Used To It."
Ice Cube: Yeah. He can rhyme, no doubt.

DX: Have you seen the recent CNN special Black In America?
Ice Cube: No, I didn’t see it.

DX: The series takes a look at black people in America and focuses on the family, as well as independent black men and women. They actually ran a segment disparaging Hip Hop, criticizing the music and message, and they played one of your videos. Did the network reach out to you and give you an opportunity to speak your piece in defense of your music and culture?
Ice Cube: Not that I know of. Anything that I do goes through [my publicist], and we ain't heard nothing. They ain't contacted us to get on these shows at all.

DX: How do you feel about that? We see it all the time with CNN and other networks throwing stones at Hip Hop, but our artists and real rap leaders aren't given a fair chance at rebuttal...
Ice Cube: I don’t worry no more about people who ain't down with Hip Hop and what they gotta say. I expect them to criticize. If you ain't no B-Boy or B-Girl, you ain't down with it like that, then you ain't gonna understand it. It’s foreign to you and prolly gon’ scare you and all that stuff so, you know…their response to the music is expected. All I really care about is the response of Hip Hoppers and B-Boys and people that’s in the music, down with the music and understand the music. You don’t have to teach them what it is, but all these outsiders with something to say…let ‘em keep bumpin’ they gums. It don’t do no harm, no good. It’s just scary people talkin’ ‘bout something they don’t know nothing about.

DX: Briefly, tell us about the new movie that you've got coming out...
Ice Cube: Yeah, it's a movie called The Long Shots that comes out August 22nd. It's inspired by a true story about a girl named Jasmine Plummer; the first girl to play Quarterback in Pop Warner Football and take her team to the championship. That's kind of the backdrop of the story. I play a dude named Curtis Plummer, her uncle, who is down and out and feels like his best days are behind him. He's an ex-football player that kind of shows her the ropes and through football, they both kind of get their swagger back a little bit. It's a good movie.

DX: Is this an ode to your days of playing football back in the day?
Ice Cube: Yeah. I've always wanted to make a football movie ever since I got in the game and started producing. And this was the only one that made sense in a lot of ways. I was happy to be able to do it, get out there with the kids, see 'em hittin' and be able to coach 'em.

DX: Any Oakland Raider cameoes?
Ice Cube: [Laughs] I wish. Nah, no cameos from the Raiders. Hopefully they in training camp doing what they supposed to do.

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