There's power in his 'Raw Footage'

Ice Cube

Raw Footage (Lench Mob)

ESSENTIAL "Hood Mentality"

Ice Cube might be straight out of Hollywood these days, but judging from this charged, vital new set, he still has some Compton in his soul. The MC's fallow period was not a result of failing skills, but because he just ran out of things to say and his bravado simply sounded like hollow bluster. But the Bush years seem to have energized him, and on this overlong disc he rails against government hypocrisy, media manipulation, and mush-mouthed, limp-beat rappers. Older and wiser doesn't mean played out, and his rhymes are wittier and more tightly coiled than most of his younger peers. "Cold Places" is a testament to endurance for those left behind in an indifferent world. "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It" both extols and comments ironically on the G persona. "Hood Mentality" is a sharp look at how keeping it street often translates to keeping it ignorant. This is a decidedly LA-oriented set in both sound and content, and while it features an updated old-school, West Coast bounce in the production style, there are some fresh twists. There are numerous quotable couplets that can slit veins or provoke grins. As Cube declared in the sequel to "Barbershop," he's back in business. [Ken Capobianco]