Less than a month after releasing Raw Footage [click to read], Ice Cube [click to read] will unveil his greatest hits with The Essentials. The second compilation of his career (the first one released in 2001), The Essentials spans eight albums and 18 years of solid solo performance. However, unlike other artist’s greatest hits compilations, Ice Cube had total creative control over which records made The Essentials, handpicking the ones he felt fans would appreciate the most in a career that has made him one of the biggest Hip Hop stars in the entire world.

Included in the 18-track album are two Billboard Rap cCart toppers in “Check Yo Self” and “It Was A Good Day,” off of Cube’s groundbreaking album The Predator. But he doesn’t just stop with incredible single material.

Pulling essentials from each and every one of his albums, Cube keeps the compilation in check with tracks such as “Greed” (War & Peace, Vol. 1), “The Wrong Nigga To Fuck Wit” (Death Certificate), and for his dedicated fans, “Dead Homiez” (Kill At Will).

Only three tracks on The Essentials include featured guests (one of them the aforementioned “Check Yo Self” with Das EFX), two of which come off his 2006 release Laugh Now, Cry Later [click to read]. The first is “Go To Church,” where he raps alongside fellow west coast rider Snoop Dogg and Lil Jon, while the second record “Spittin’ Pollaseeds” features Westside Connection member WC and Kokane.

“Cold Places” off of Raw Footage rounds out the album as justification for Cube’s successful rap career thus far, and it is apparent throughout that he went the extra mile in choosing the absolute best for his listeners.
Ice Cube’s The Essentials will be released next Tuesday (Sept. 16th) on Priority Records.