Laugh Now, Cry Later [PA] (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Ice Cube (rap vocals); Lil Jon (rap vocals, drum programming); Kokane, Snoop Dogg, WC (rap vocals); Craig Love (guitar); Chris Carmouche (keyboards); Tracy Lee Nelson, Barbara Wilson (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: John Frye.

Recording information: Stankonia Recording, Atlanta, GA; The Hit Factory Criteria, Miami, FL.

Photographer: Eric Williams.

The decade following 1992's THE PREDATOR found Ice Cube releasing a handful of mediocre albums (none of which lived up to the standards of his first three solo releases) and devoting his time to other activities (including writing and directing films). But 2006's LAUGH NOW, CRY LATER reminded the world that Cube is still one of the most forceful voices in hardcore hip-hop, a game he helped create the rules for.

The guest roster glitters with all-stars, including Snoop Dogg, Dre, and crunk king Lil Jon. Cube's familiar delivery still crackles with fierce intensity, especially on the politically militant album opener "Why We Thugs," which takes the federal government to task for the condition of America's ghettos. Yet the album isn't strictly polemical: "Smoke Some Weed" has a self-explanatory message, and its slinky, Middle Eastern vibe boasts one of the album's best beats. In all, LAUGH NOW weighs in as Ice Cube's strongest album since THE PREDATOR, and underscores the rapper's status as a hip-hop icon.

As Ice Cube's 2006 Laugh Now, Cry Later was landing in stores, all the chatter was about whether or not Cube was back, and whether or not he could recover from a couple of lackluster solo albums that came out years ago. Did his major contribution to Westside Connection's satisfying 2003 album Terrorist Threats slip everybody's mind and do we have to consider that release "slept on"? Laugh Now picks up right where Terrorist Threats left off, and while Cube does a little "this is why I'm important" posturing on the excellent "Child Support," this isn't a forced "I'm back" effort in the least. After a short intro, Cube goes right for the upper classes' throats with "Guns and Drugs," a track that acknowledges that there was a George Bush in office when he began his solo career, there's a George Bush in office as he returns to it, and he doesn't much care for either. Switching gears, the following club track "Smoke Some Weed" gives everyone the finger in a much less socially conscious manner. The track's rain stick and East Indian vocal loops constructed by producer Budda give the album its most riveting beat, the competition supplied by various upstarts and, surprisingly, Lil Jon, who upstages the heralded Scott Storch and his underwhelming contributions. Lil Jon tweaks his usual crunk juice and blends some West into his South for the low-riding "Go to Church" and "You Gotta Lotta That," both with Snoop. Just as satisfying, "Doin' What It 'Pose 2 Do" is a modern banger that's well aware of the 2006 success of folks like Bun B and Z-Ro. It's only when Cube jumps on the "Stop Snitchin'" bandwagon that he sounds the least bit unnatural. He also scores a lyrical triumph with the title track, but unlike his early classics, Laugh Now stumbles occasionally and fails to keep the momentum going through the whole fourth quarter. This is his first effort on his own independent label, so if the album lacks a little final product-minded polish, it trades it for a homegrown feel that's distinctively direct. Strip a couple redundant tracks and you've got that bitter, edgy, and sharp Cube album you hoped for. ~ David Jeffries minimize