November 10, 2006

Ice Cube Pulls A 50 Cent, Re-Releases Laugh Now, Cry Later With Videos

By Corey Moss (MTV.com)

Apparently, O.G. now means technologically advanced.

Following 50 Cent's lead from last fall, Ice Cube has re-released his summer album with videos accompanying each track. Oh, and it's titled Laugh Now, Cry Later: O.G. Limited Edition.

"It's the future," Cube said at the official re-release party. "I think we have to offer the consumer more to get them into the record stores, so this is one of my efforts to try to push the envelope a little bit and do something fresh."

Three standard music videos are featured on the O.G. Limited Edition -- "Why We Thugs," "Go to Church" and "Chrome & Paint" -- while the rest of the songs are cut to never-before-seen footage mostly culled from Cube's recent 21-city tour with WC, the Clipse and Dogg Pound.

"The album plays as you see it, and we got footage of concerts, behind the scenes -- everything a fan could want from an artist," Cube said of the DualDisc, released Tuesday.

Cube oversaw the project himself, utilizing the production skills he's picked up over the years. "My experience in film helped me put together a nice package for people that love the album, to experience it from a visual point of view," he said.

Speaking of movies, Cube is currently working on Are We Done Yet? and looking to start filming his modern interpretation of Welcome Back, Kotter in early 2007.

The rapper is also hoping to make a difference in his community, and earlier this year recorded a song called "Get U Down" with Warren G, Snoop Dogg and B Real to address the escalating feud between blacks and Latinos in southern California.

"We just want to put a stop to it," Cube said. "We want to try to do what we can to say that the black and the brown has always shared California. We all struggling, and we need to really support each community and not be so quick to blame each community, and hopefully reasonable heads will prevail.

"It takes a whole generation to turn it around, so we want to start with the hip-hop generation."