Priority 57285
Executive producer: Ice Cube
Track listing: The First Day of School (Intro) / When Will They Shoot? / I’m Scared (Insert) / Wicked / Now I Gotta Wet ‘Cha / The Predator / It Was a Good Day / We Had to Tear This ? Up /F —– ‘Em (Insert) / Dirty Mack / Don’t Trust ‘Em / Gangsta’s Fairytale 2 / Check Yo Self (Featuring Dos EFX) / Who Got the Camera? / Integration (Insert) / Say Hi to the Bad Guy
December 5, 1992
1 week
Ice Cube made history when The Predator knocked off Garth Brooks’s The Chase to become the first rap album to debut at Number One on The Billboard 200. It also debuted at Number One on the Top R&B Albums chart, making it the first album to debut at the top of both charts since Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life. Cube achieved the feat with a combination of hardcore rap and controversy.
“He’s in the eye of the storm,” said Priority Records president Bryan Turner shortly after the album’s release, “and it’s gratifying to see him achieve this and remain true to his form of expression.”
In 1991, Ice Cube raised the ire of Korean and Jewish groups with tracks on his Death Certificate album that some deemed anti-Korean and anti-Semitic. Billboard published an editorial denouncing two songs on the album, “Black Korea” (in which Ice Cube’s protagonist vowed to burn down a Korean market if its owners continued to disrespect blacks) and “No Vaseline.”
Controversy or no, Death Certificate debuted and peaked at number two on November 16, 1991, one position above Hammer’s Too Legit to Quit. Six months later, after four Los Angeles officers were acquitted in the beating of black motorist Rodney King, rioters burned and looted dozens of buildings, including some operated by Koreans.
On The Predator‘s title track, Ice Cube addressed the riots and his beef with Billboard and his other rivals. For backing support, Cube once again turned to Lench Mob crew members Pooh and Jinx, but on three other tracks he was joined in the studio by Mixmaster Muggs of Cypress Hill. Live horns and acoustic bass were featured on “We Had to Tear This Up.”
Priority’s Turner attributed Cube’s record-setting debut to a number of factors: his active core audience, the single “Wicked,” which created an advance buzz on the album, and Cube’s appearance on the Lollapalooza ’92 tour. In addition, Turner cited the home-video release of the film Boyz N The Hood and the publicity preceding the release of another film, Trespass, which was set for theatrical release a few weeks after The Predator hit the street. Both films featured Cube in acting roles and on their soundtrack.
For Cube, who left N.W.A prior to their chart-topping EFIL4ZAGGIN, The Predator was a true triumph. However, its stay on top was short lived, as it would soon prove to be no match for The Bodyguard.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of December 5, 1992
1. The Predator, Ice Cube
2. The Bodyguard, Soundtrack
3. The Chase, Garth Brooks
4. Timeless (The Classics), Michael Bolton
5. Uplugged, Eric Clapton