On this day in music history: May 16, 1990 - “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted”, the debut album by Ice Cube is released. Produced by The Bomb Squad, Ice Cube, Chilly Chill and Sir Jinx, it is recorded at Greene Street Studios in New York City from January - April 1990. Having departed from NWA months before over a financial dispute with the group’s manager Jerry Heller, Ice Cube makes plans to record his solo debut album with Dr. Dre producing. When Heller and Eazy-E prevent Dre from working with Cube, he instead begins working on tracks with Dre’s cousin Sir Jinx, as well as collaborating with Public Enemy’s production team The Bomb Squad. Cube goes to New York to record the album over a period of three and a half months. The album is groundbreaking both in its use of samples as well as lyrically, with Ice Cube’s lyrics touching on various social and political issues affecting the people around him. Featuring guest appearances by Chuck D and Flavor Flav, as well as introducing Ice Cube proteges The Lench Mob, Yo Yo, and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien (Cube’s cousin). The finished album receives major acclaim from fans and critics alike. An instant classic, “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted” in time is regarded one the most important and influential albums of the 90’s. It spins off three singles including “Who’s The Mack?”, “Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)” and the title track. The album is remastered and reissued on CD and vinyl LP in 2003, with both configurations including the EP “Kill At Will” as an additional bonus. The vinyl LP is reissued again as a stand alone release in 2013, as part of UMe’s “Respect The Classics” reissue series. “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted” peaks at number six on the Billboard R&B album chart, number nineteen on the Top 200, and is certified 2x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
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