Respect Due: 10 Artists Who Embody Ice Cube's Talents

The hip hop icon has influenced rappers from three decades.

The BET Honors Salutes Ice Cube

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The BET Honors Salutes Ice Cube

Respect Due: 10 Artists Who Embody Ice Cube's Talents - This year at BET Honors, Ice Cube will be one of the honorees. It's a well-deserved distinction. The West Coast native has had a distinguished 25 year musical career and has also seen much success in the acting world. With such a lengthy and impactful career, it's no wonder that Cube has influenced a sprawling list of artists. Here are ten who embody his talents. (Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)

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Respect Due: 10 Artists Who Embody Ice Cube's Talents - This year at BET Honors, Ice Cube will be one of the honorees. It's a well-deserved distinction. The West Coast native has had a distinguished 25 year musical career and has also seen much success in the acting world. With such a lengthy and impactful career, it's no wonder that Cube has influenced a sprawling list of artists. Here are ten who embody his talents. (Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)

Game, "Hoodmorning" - A bit of a riff on Yeezy's "Good Morning," Game also sampled John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" on the Mars-produced track.  (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Spike)

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True to the Game - Game has never been shy about his influences. Chief among them is Ice Cube, whose solo work (particularly Death Certificate, which he studied and shouts out on The Documentary) and work with N.W.A. (Game has the group's name tatted on his chest) left a lasting impression on the Compton native. The two collobarted on "State of Emergency" on Game's LAX. (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Spike)

Gangster Rap Made Me Do It - On "m.A.A.d city," Kendrick Lamar pays homage to Ice Cube's "A Bird in the Hand" by repurposing the song's opening lyrics. It's really no surprise, since K. Dot has said he grew up listening to Death Certificate in the house all the time. Like Cube, the Compton rapper has balanced his street savviness with a larger political worldview without coming off preachy. (Photo: Michael Stewart/WireImage)

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Gangster Rap Made Me Do It - On "m.A.A.d city," Kendrick Lamar pays homage to Ice Cube's "A Bird in the Hand" by repurposing the song's opening lyrics. It's really no surprise, since K. Dot has said he grew up listening to Death Certificate in the house all the time. Like Cube, the Compton rapper has balanced his street savviness with a larger political worldview without coming off preachy. (Photo: Michael Stewart/WireImage)

Endangered Species - Legends can influence legends. Just look at Ice Cube and Nas. They're from different coasts, sure, but the Queens rapper's early solo work in many ways mirrors Cube's, with themes of painting life in the ghetto and trying to unpack the larger forces at play to create those circumstances. (Photo: Johnny Nunez/Getty Images)

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Endangered Species - Legends can influence legends. Just look at Ice Cube and Nas. They're from different coasts, sure, but the Queens rapper's early solo work in many ways mirrors Cube's, with themes of painting life in the ghetto and trying to unpack the larger forces at play to create those circumstances. (Photo: Johnny Nunez/Getty Images)

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Tupac - Tupac was known for his candid tongue and provocative lyrics. At a MECCA arena concert in Milwaukee back in 1994 Pac got a little too carefree with his words inciting a riot which caused promoters to drop him. Pac allegedly sparked conflict with "fight words," and fans began to throw cups on stage, shove, and more; forcing the concert to end early. Afterwards, the aggravated concertgoers stormed the hotel Tupac was staying at, leaving three injured and two arrested. Promoters blamed the rapper for the mayhem and promptly discontinued their relationship him before his next show.(Photo: Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Say Hi to the Bad Guy - Ice Cube and 2Pac had more in common than just haiiling for the West Coast, working with Dr. Dre and appearing in movies. Like Cube, Pac often exhibited a high energy and aggressiveness in his rhymes — particularly those where he took aim at other rappers or society's ills. (Photo: Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Smarter Than You Think - The intelligent gangsta persona that Ice Cube began to embody in the late 1980s and early 1990s was carried on by Saigon a decade and a half later. Sai simultaneously comes off as the hardest and smartest guy in the room — something for which Cube laid a foundation.  (Photo: Jim Spellman/WireImage)

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Smarter Than You Think - The intelligent gangsta persona that Ice Cube began to embody in the late 1980s and early 1990s was carried on by Saigon a decade and a half later. Sai simultaneously comes off as the hardest and smartest guy in the room — something for which Cube laid a foundation.  (Photo: Jim Spellman/WireImage)

Photo By Photo: Jim Spellman/WireImage

You Gotta Have Heart - El-P has said that he and Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music drew inspiration from Ice Cube's AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted. Beyond that, Mike has been earning Cube comparisons for years, stemming largely from the seasoned socio-political outrage that the two artists' music shares. (Photo: Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images)

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You Gotta Have Heart - El-P has said that he and Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music drew inspiration from Ice Cube's AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted. Beyond that, Mike has been earning Cube comparisons for years, stemming largely from the seasoned socio-political outrage that the two artists' music shares. (Photo: Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images)

I Rep That West - Hailing from the West Coast like Ice Cube, Xzibit and his music are marked by amped up tones and pointed vocal onslaughts, just like his fellow Dr. Dre collaborator. Plus, like Cube, X to the Z has made forays to both the big and small screens.(Photo: Leon Bennett/WireImage)

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I Rep That West - Hailing from the West Coast like Ice Cube, Xzibit and his music are marked by amped up tones and pointed vocal onslaughts, just like his fellow Dr. Dre collaborator. Plus, like Cube, X to the Z has made forays to both the big and small screens.(Photo: Leon Bennett/WireImage)

Bling, Bling - From the mic to the ring, Uncle Snoop is all about the bling, bling! (Photo: Rick Diamond/BET/Getty Images for BET)

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I Am the West - Though he's a contemporary of Ice Cube's, Snoop Dogg also embodies some of the best traits of his West Coast brethren. From sharp flows to an undying love for the Left, these two OGs have built similarly untouchable legacies. (Photo: Rick Diamond/BET/Getty Images for BET)

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"Hold On" - 50 Cent kicks off with the message that even though his finances have changed, he's still got the heart of a South Jamaican hustler. Refusing to let beefs die, he also sends a missile at former record executive Jimmy Henchman, who was convicted of drug trafficking last year and sentenced to life, rapping, "On the phone I heard Yayo smacked the s--t out of a kid/Now Jimmy got life, go smack him again."  (Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for BET)

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The Guy You Love to Hate - As someone that has branched out into other money-making ventures beyond music — most notably, a successful acting career — Ice Cube has some skills that many rappers could learn from. 50 Cent not only has followed that path with many lucrative ventures of his own, but his music also contains an audible mean-mug like Cube's.(Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for BET)

8. Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) - Yasiin has collaborated with a few artists on this list. He's straddled the line between onscious emcee and political activist, but on many occasions these two worlds overlap. Unlike Paris, his music doesn't veer toward extremes. However, his penchant for hip hop that is self-reflective is apparent on his debut, Black on Both Sides. (Photo: WENN)

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Higher Learning - Mos Def started in a group, was annointed as one of hip hop's new favorites for his early solo work and ventured into acting — all things that are also true of Ice Cube. With his developed lyricism and social outlook, Mos carried on Cube's fundamentals. (Photo: WENN)