Family-friendly Ice Cube returns to his rapping roots at Showbox

Concert Review |

Ice Cube had his gangsta face on Thursday night at the Showbox at the Market, not his friendly face from movies like "Barbershop" or "The Longshots," his latest family flick, which opens today.

The packed crowd partied like it was 1989, especially when Cube, probably the finest mouthpiece of gangsta rap, did "Gangsta Gangsta" from the landmark album released that year by the incendiary group he started with, N.W.A. (Can it really be almost two decades ago?)

Cube got back into rap big time this week, with the Tuesday release of "Raw Footage," his new album, the eighth of his solo career, which he shamelessly plugged throughout the 90-minute show. He featured the first single from it, "Do Ya Thang," a positive rap that paled in comparison to his hard-core classics like "Natural Born Killaz" and "Why We Thugs."

"I started this gangsta [stuff]" he bragged, from his song "Hello." But the next line — "and this is the [expletive] thanks I get?" — was ironic, because he was getting all kind of thanks from the audience, which was there to honor him for it, in contrast to the condemnation he faced from many quarters, especially the police, back in the day.

No longer scary, gangsta rap is now mostly about fun and partying, which was underscored by songs like "We Be Clubbin'," "You Can Do It" and especially his classic "It Was A Good Day."

When he, his DJ and backup rapper (there were also several beefy bodyguards onstage) launched into "Smoke Some Weed" the blunts came out and big puffs of smoke arose from the packed dance floor. The sweet, tangy smell of marijuana soon permeated the place.

Noting that the Northwest is "green" and "smells like Christmas trees," he emphasized Seattle's "Westside connection" to California, in contrast to East Coast rap. "I love Seattle," he said, sounding sincere, and thanked fans here for standing by him all these years.

He may have had his gangsta face on, but the menace was gone. Nowadays, nearing 40, he's more like a very hip uncle who hasn't forgotten how to party like he used to do when he was a bad boy, all those years ago.

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com