Today, the legendary Ice Cube took a moment to chop it up with Charlamagne The God, DJ Envy, and Angela Yee of The Breakfast Club, where he spoke at length about his desire to change the community, with particular emphasis on police reform.
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Curiously, Charlamagne accuses N.W.A. of playing a major role in stirring the animosity between police and the community, a reference to the group's classic single "Fuck The Police." "Cube, I have to say respectfully, a lot of that is N.W.A's fault and I'ma tell you why," explains Charlamagne. "People in the community don't want to be police cause ya'll said fuck the police, and people in the community don't respect the police because ya'll said fuck the police."
Cube laughs, denying the claim's authenticity. "Nah, you can't put that on N.W.A," says Cube. "People felt that way way before N.W.A. I grew up with people who felt that way. This goes back for centuries. It's a problem that needs to be fixed and it's not getting better. It's gotten the point where we can't live under these conditions. We can't do it and we going to change it, and they will change. Either they going to change or we're going to change them."
Charlamagne suggests providing financial incentive for "people in the hood that choose to go into law enforcement, and live in their communities." Yee mentions the inherent dangers of policing where you live, a quality that makes it unappealing for aspiring police. "That's a big problem," says Cube. "I think even if you try to find a happy medium, you still gotta have people associated with the community. People who know the community. Not people who have no real feelings for the people in the community."
Be sure to check out the full Breakfast Club interview below, and show some love to Cube in the comments.