Ice Cube announced the biggest hip-hop news of the summer as N.W.A. will apparently reunite in some form for the BET Experience show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on June 27. It doesn't seem, based on Cube's commentary, that Dr. Dre will not be involved however MC Ren and DJ Yella will take part, as well as special appearances from Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and ScHoolboy Q.
"It's just gonna be a great night," he said. "It's just gonna be one of those 'I wish I were there in L.A. nights.' And we're gonna rock that sh*t, no problem."
For as influential as N.W.A. was on the current face of hip-hop, few people realize just how short Cube's time with the group was. The group broke through with 1988's Straight Outta Compton, however the group's main emcee was gone by the time the 1990 EP 100 Miles and Runnin' was released. According to Cube, the last time he performed with Yella was during 1989, while he last appeared with Ren during 2000.
The group's breakup was messy, however it seems that all parties have gotten over it in the 25 years since. Emcee Eazy-E died during 1995, however his widow Tomica Woods-Wright co-produced the forthcoming biopic Straight Outta Compton along with Cube and Dre.
As for the setlist for the BET Experience show, Cube was mum while speaking to Rolling Stone. "Straight Outta Compton" is almost guaranteed, considering the location of the concert, but whether "F*ck tha Police" gets a performance might depend on how willing strong BET's producers' stomachs/backbones are, and whether they're willing to deal with the inevitable fallout (in terms of viewer complaints) from such a performance. Cube told Stone that the song's relevance hasn't changed in the last 27 years...nor has it in the last 400 years.
"That song is still in the same place before it was made," he said. "It's our legacy here in America with the police department and any kind of authority figures that have to deal with us on a day-to-day basis. There's usually abuse and violence connected to that interaction, so when "F*ck tha Police" was made in 1989, it was 400 years in the making.
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