ShareIce Cube with special guests Cypress Hill performing his High Rollers Tour at The Motorpoint Arena Nottingham on Tuesday 12th December 2023.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
West coast rap legends Cypress Hill and Ice Cube, were at the Motorpoint Arena on Tuesday night to deliver the best and loudest hip hop concert Nottingham has seen in years.
When 90’s rap legends Cypress Hill took to the stage, scratch master DJ Lord, supreme percussionist Eric Bobo and rappers Sen Dog and the mighty B-Real had the crowd in the palm of their hands as they ran through a medley of their greatest hits and showed how they have stayed in the game for more than thirty years now.
Flanked by clouds of customary weed smoke, they packed in a wealth of their classics such as Tequila Sunrise and (Rock) Superstar that were given extra weight thanks to Bobo’s drumming and B-Real and Sen Dog’s rhythmic prowess which shined on the likes of Dr Greenthumb, I Wanna Get High, Latin Lingo, and the suitably trippy finale of Insane In The Brian.
They made the entire Arena move in synch by ending with a cover version of House Of Pain’s Jump Around and with their marijuana filled graphics on the big screen and a crowd clearly breathing just as much as the ‘atmosphere’ as B-Real himself, Cypress Hill had entertained in a way that only they know how.
It was soon time for O’Shea Jackson Sr, better known as Ice Cube, to take to the stage, and as he prowled around like a panther rapping to pre-recorded backing tracks, he was accompanied by his Westside Connection band mate WC as they gave everyone a recap of a legendary career that has stretched way back to the 80s.
Ice Cube’s credentials over the past two decades may have included actor, film producer, director, basketball league co-founder and more, but on Tuesday night he was back to being one of the finest rappers ever. Starting with Natural Born Killaz, the crowd were immediately delighted as they danced, cheered and roared to other classic hits which included Check Yo’ Self, Westside Connection’s Bow Down , Gangsta Nation and The Gangsta The Killa And The Dope Dealer.
Having been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a member of N.W.A in 2016, it was only right that Gangsta Gangsta and his incendiary debut single, Straight Outta Compton were given an airing. And with his legacy in the rap world secured, he finished the show with his 90s classic it Was A Good Day that had truly captivated the audience, left them star struck and certainly wanting more.