Taking a break from his successful Barbershop and Friday film franchises, Ice Cube returns to his first love, rapping. Laugh Now, Cry Later, the rap icon's first solo album in six years, simmers with celebration, as well as the rage, reflection and introspection that are the hallmarks of timeless music. "I feel Laugh Now, Cry Later is the state of the world, of America, of urban America, of hip-hop," Ice Cube explains of his seventh solo album. "It seems like everybody is playing and nobody's worried about anything.

On the explosive Scott Storch (50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Beyonce) produced "Why We Thugs", Ice Cube blasts an oppressive system that cripples America's ghettos and fosters the perpetual ruin of such areas as South Central, Compton and Long Beach, Los Angeles metropolitan areas that have been war zones for decades.