Rapper/actor Ice Cube has announced that he will release his seventh solo album, Laugh Now, Cry Later, in June via his independent label, Lench Mob Records.
The album is the follow-up to Ice Cube's Greatest Hits collection, which hit stores in 2001. The rapper, born O'Shea Jackson, put his film career on hold to focus on recording the new LP.
"It's a record that flows from kind of one tone to the next," Ice Cube told AllHipHop.com in a recent feature. "Laugh Now, Cry Later really is the state of the world in a way. You know, you could say it's the state of the world, the state of America, the state of urban America.
Now everybody's doing a lot of playing and nobody's really thinking about when God's gonna make us pay for all this at some point in time. That's really what inspired me to make it that title."
Scott Storch, Lil' Jon and Swizz Beatz are among the contributing producers on the 18-track album, with Snoop Dogg, WC and others making guest appearances.
The first single is the Scott Storch-produced social commentary titled "Why We Thugs."
Ice Cube started his career as a member of the pioneering rap group N.W.A., on Eric "Eazy E" Wright's Ruthless Records.
Ice Cube left the group because of a financial dispute with Wright and N.W.A.'s manager, Jerry Heller.
In 1990, he released his solo debut, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, which was followed by Death Certificate, War and Peace, Lethal Injection, The Predator and others.
Laugh Now, Cry Later hits stores June 6.
The album is the follow-up to Ice Cube's Greatest Hits collection, which hit stores in 2001. The rapper, born O'Shea Jackson, put his film career on hold to focus on recording the new LP.
"It's a record that flows from kind of one tone to the next," Ice Cube told AllHipHop.com in a recent feature. "Laugh Now, Cry Later really is the state of the world in a way. You know, you could say it's the state of the world, the state of America, the state of urban America.
Now everybody's doing a lot of playing and nobody's really thinking about when God's gonna make us pay for all this at some point in time. That's really what inspired me to make it that title."
Scott Storch, Lil' Jon and Swizz Beatz are among the contributing producers on the 18-track album, with Snoop Dogg, WC and others making guest appearances.
The first single is the Scott Storch-produced social commentary titled "Why We Thugs."
Ice Cube started his career as a member of the pioneering rap group N.W.A., on Eric "Eazy E" Wright's Ruthless Records.
Ice Cube left the group because of a financial dispute with Wright and N.W.A.'s manager, Jerry Heller.
In 1990, he released his solo debut, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, which was followed by Death Certificate, War and Peace, Lethal Injection, The Predator and others.
Laugh Now, Cry Later hits stores June 6.
