Decades after leaving NWA and becoming a solo artist, West Coast hip-hop pioneer and movie producer Ice Cube has signed his first major label deal with Interscope Records. In conjunction with the famed label, he will be releasing the 25th-anniversary edition of his game-changing second album, Death Certificate.

In a recent interview with Variety, the “Today Was A Good Day” rapper explains why it made sense for him to sign a new deal with Interscope.

“It makes sense for a lot of reasons,” Cube told Variety. “Interscope has always been on the cutting edge of music, so it’s cool to be associated with a label that’s done so much for hip-hop and music in general. They’re game changers.”

Historically, the label has been involved with many of hip-hop’s most important albums from the early 90s like Dr. Dre’s classic debut, The Chronic, Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, and 2Pac’s 2Pacalypse Now.

“We are thrilled to announce that Ice Cube has joined the Interscope family,” chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records John Janick said in a recent statement. “He’s obviously one of the legendary figures in hip-hop. That’s a massive statement on its own, but he’s so much more than that. Cube has an incredible body of work and as a fan, I’m honored to welcome him to the label.”

Death Certificate’s 25th-anniversary re-release will feature three new songs, “Only One Me,” “Dominate The Weak” and its lead single, “Good Cop, Bad Cop.” The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B charts when it was released in October 1991.

“It’s cool now to have dough from the ‘big boys’ to get some of these new ideas out to the public,” Cube said. “New records, new compilations and all these ideas that we can build over at Interscope.”

The album is one of hip-hop’s most impactful albums due to its social commentary with songs like “My Summer Vacation”, “I Wanna Kill Sam”, and “Black Korea”. Cube stated that many of the issues addressed on the album are the same ones the black community still suffers from today.

“Sadly, our community is dealing with many of the same issues,” Cube said. “I only hope that young millennials feeling powerless in the ‘hood can channel their own anger and frustration by listening to this record.”

Source: variety.com