I Rep That West

Album: I Am the West (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is the first single from rapper and actor Ice Cube's ninth studio album, I Am the West. The song features on the hook Suave House Records recording artist/producer Jigg, who also produced the track. Jigg's other credits include producing for Rick Ross and Young Buck.
  • The song's Wild West styled music video was helmed by director Gabriel Hart (Jeezy, Plies, B.o.B), who told MTV News that he originally wasn't sure what treatment to deliver to Cube. "I started thinking about all the cliché s--t that goes along with L.A. videos," Hart said. "Stuff that had been killed before. Cube gets on the phone and I give him ideas, but I wasn't confident or standing behind what I was saying. He told me it was cliché. And he was right. He's done everything already, so what can he do that's never been done? If you see my videos, I always want to do something different. But how do you tell Cube, 'I don't wanna do that sh-- no more, I don't want to do any f---ing dominoes'? So, respectfully, I was like, 'Let's do this and that.' And he said, 'No.' So, in my mind, I was actually like, 'Thank you.' Then he said, 'We're going to the Old West,' and hung up the phone. That was the conversation."
  • Ice Cube explained in an interview: "My inspiration behind the album was, I felt like West Coast artists have been searching for what we need to do to get the attention of the industry. Ultimately what I said is we need to do what we do best. To do the music that we made famous, which is hardcore gangster rap and in my case, be proud of the West and our contributions to what we did and what we're doing for Hip Hop."

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