Ice Cube on Hall of Fame Snub: ‘It Sucks, But It’s Understandable’

Ice Cube’s former group, gangsta-rap icons N.W.A., won’t be a part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2014. But the rap legend isn’t taking it personally.

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“It sucks. But it’s understandable,” he says in a new interview with the Associated Press. “We really only had one album together. They had two albums as a group. I’m sure that groups that have been together longer can make a better argument.”

And that snub ultimately brings up a more important point: “This just lets you know how much we need a Hip-Hop Hall of Fame of our own.”

If that Hip-Hop Hall is ever created, Cube thinks acclaimed newcomer Kendrick Lamar is working toward a future induction. When asked for his thoughts on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis besting Lamar for the year’s Best Rap Album, Cube gives a harsh critique of the result: “It’s typical,” he says. “It’s the Grammys, what do you expect? But for them to pass up true skills for what could be fly-by-night success. . . I don’t want to dis anybody, but seriously.”

But the interview isn’t focused entirely on controversy: Elsewhere, Cube (who stars opposite Kevin Hart in the recent film comedy Ride Along) talks about his eclectic choice in movie roles and the comedic inspiration he took from his childhood in South Central L.A.

“Growing up in my neighborhood, the comedy was right there,” he says. “Friday was our look at the neighborhood: Dope-dealing out of an ice-cream truck, crackheads, drive-by shootings – how bad is that? But it was actually fun at times. That is what the movie was conveying. It was how we saw the neighborhood versus how the news saw the neighborhood.”