Ice Cube has teamed up with LL Cool J and Chuck D (of Public Enemy) for a remix of his latest single, “Before Hip-Hop (Premix).” The track carries a pointed message: Hip-Hop is not the root of society’s deeper ills — many of those existed long before rap ever emerged.
The remix rides on instrumentation by Hallway Productionz, the Stockton, California duo known for blending West Coast grit with boom-bap sensibilities. Cube initiates the cut, targeting politicians and media that have historically scapegoated Hip-Hop for systemic dysfunction. LL Cool J steps in with hard-hitting confidence, while Chuck D, whose work has long given voice to political resistance, traces how structural woes predate rap.