''Raw Footage'' is the eighth studio album by American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Ice Cube. It was released on August 19, 2008, by his record label

Lench Mob Records Lench Mob Records is an record label owned by Los Angeles rapper and actor Ice Cube. Founded as Street Knowledge Records, it was once home to many of Cube's former allies such as DJ Pooh, and Lench Mob's own Chilly Chill, Del the Funky Homos ...

and

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

. The album features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

s from The Game, Butch Cassidy,

Musiq Soulchild Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by the stage name Musiq Soulchild or simply Musiq (pronounced "music") is an American singer and songwriter whose style blends R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and gospel influences fused w ...

Young Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...

and WC. The album is his most political effort, since over a decade earlier with the release of his album '' The Predator'' (1992). Preceding the release, supported by three singles; " Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It", " Do Ya Thang", and "Why Me?" featuring

Singles

The lead single from the album, called " Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It" was released January 3, 2008. The song was produced by

Maestro Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning "master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, in line with the ubiqu ...

. In this single, Ice Cube addresses society's view of gangsta rap music, which has sometimes been blamed for criminality in America. On February 12, 2008, the single became available via iTunes. The music video features cameo appearances by WC and DJ Crazy Toones. The album's second single, called " Do Ya Thang" was released through the iTunes on June 24, 2008. The song was produced by Palumbo Beats. The music video for the third single, "Why Me?" featuring

,Ice Cube Gets Political with ‘Why Me?’ Video.
''Rap-up.com''. Accessed September 3, 2008. premiered on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rate ...

'' on September 24, 2008.

Other songs

The song "It Takes a Nation" was released via

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

on May 27, 2008. It was never officially released as a single.

Commercial performance

''Raw Footage'' debuted at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 70,000 copies in its first week. This became Ice Cube's seventh US top-ten album.

Track listing

;Notes * "What Is a Pyroclastic Flow?", "Hood Mentality", "Jack N the Box", "Get Used to It" and "Take Me Away" feature voice over by

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...

. * "Cold Places" also featured on Ice Cube's

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

album '' The Essentials''. ;Sample credits * "Hood Mentality" contains a sample of "Can I" performed by

Eddie Kendricks Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temptation ...

. * "Thank God" contains a samples of "If We Don't Make It, Nobody Can" performed by Tom Brocker (witten by

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

Bob Relf Robert Nelson Relf (January 10, 1937 – November 20, 2007) was an American R&B and soul musician. Best known as half of the soul music duo Bob & Earl whose song, Harlem Shuffle was released in the US in 1963 and in the UK in 1964. It was re-re ...

and Tom Brocker). * "Stand Tall" contains a sample of "

Be Thankful for What You Got "Be Thankful for What You Got" is a Soul music, soul song written and first performed by William DeVaughn. The gramophone record, record sold nearly two million copies on its release in spring of 1974, reaching #1 on the U.S. R&B charts and #4 ...

", written and performed by

William DeVaughn William Edward DeVaughn Jr. (born November 28, 1947) is an American R&B/soul singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known for the million-selling hit song "Be Thankful for What You Got" in 1974. Biography DeVaughn was a salaried government emp ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2008 albums Ice Cube albums Albums produced by Emile Haynie Albums produced by Scott Storch Albums produced by Swizz Beatz Albums produced by Tha Bizness Albums produced by Warryn Campbell