Melle Mel. Ice-T. Chuck D. KRS-One. Rakim. During a recent visit to Nick Cannon Mornings on Los Angeles's Power 106 radio station, Ice Cube dropped who he considered to be his top five rappers of all time. These lists, of course, are subjective, but hip hop enthusiasts of Cube's generation tend to favor artists that came before them or rose to fame with them. The 50-year-old rapper is considered to be an icon himself, often included in top ten emcee lists from fans and fellow artists, but his name is often missing from one list that many work diligently to be on: Forbes.
The hip hop mogul has his hands in many cookie jars as his business portfolio includes music, film, television, sports, fashion, endorsements, and more. He's amassed an empire worth over $150 million, but his accomplishments aren't celebrated within the coveted Forbes lists that hip hop artists hope to find their names on. That's just fine with Cube who told Cannon that he doesn't mind because "that shouldn't matter."
"It ain’t all about what I got, it’s all about what I can give you," he said. "What I can produce that you can be a part of?...Do it make you happy? Do it make you feel good? Did it make you feel like you didn’t waste your time and waste your money? To me, that’s what it’s all about. It’s not about how much this one got or that one got, or this one don’t got or that one don’t got. How much product are they producing? What are they doing that’s dope? How many things are they leaving on the earth when they’re gone that will still be here to entertain people? That’s really what it’s all about.”
Elsewhere in the interview Cube shared that he always felt out of place bragging about his wealth as other artists did because he knew that most of his fans would never be able to relate. "Hip hop is a braggadocious, boisterous-type of...," he said. "I thought it would make me seem out of touch with my audience. Even though I know everybody wants those things, everybody don’t have those things. I’m the kinda dude where you gotta notice me wearing it, but I’m not about to tell you I got it on...Certain things don’t have to be said. When you say them, it makes you look small. It doesn’t make you look bigger. I makes you look smaller. You flossin’ on anybody...people that don’t got it.”