UB Spotlight: Ice Cube, E-40 & Too $hort Talk ‘Mount Westmore’
Mount Westmore marks the unification of four Hip-Hop icons for all to admire. This super-group celebrates the impact and everlasting stature of Ice Cube, Too $hort, Snoop Dogg, and E-40.
As West Coast pioneers, innovators, and ambassadors, these legends formed this collective well into their Hall Of Fame-worthy careers. They used pandemic downtime to begin creating an album worthy of their pedigree.
On December 9th, fans will receive the polished, hand-crafted result. Snoop, Cube, 40, $hort shows these superstars‘ indelible and global impact on the culture across 15 tracks filled with funk, wisdom, and swagger. Mount Westmore brings together 125 years of combined experience, over 100 million albums sold, and unrivaled industry respect.
It was E-40 who initiated the group idea. The Vallejo, California entrepreneur has amassed a prolific music career since the late 1980s. Blending inventive lyricism with an unmistakable delivery, he has expanded into wine, spirits, and food franchises.
As 2020’s pandemic paused four ever-busy careers, 40 Water tapped three of his peer collaborators to put their studios to the ultimate use. Ice Cube welcomed the idea even amid Hollywood stardom and his BIG3 professional basketball league. An alum of famed supergroups N.W.A. and Westside Connection, Cube branded this squad Mount Westmore.
Too $hort, whose rap career extends back over 40 years to the avenues of Oakland, California, is a keystone in the mix. “The hip-hop spirit doesn’t really age,” he told The New York Times. “It’s like a little kid thing you’ve got that’s your spark of life.” That spark burns on the album.
Snoop Dogg is a seamless fit alongside his forefathers. At the onset of the 1990s, Snoop became an international superstar with his smooth style, authentic storytelling, and ability to blend into any environment. Now a mogul, Snoop has taken that charisma “from the streets to the suites,” as he raps on “Free Game.” Mount Westmore bookends a 2022 that has witnessed Snoop acquire Death Row Records and deliver an Emmy-winning Super Bowl Halftime Show. Now, he shines with some of his top influences.
UB attended a conference with Ice Cube, E-40 & Too $hort, Snoop is away filming a film.
The hip hop legends previewed tracks from their debut album, they call good and fun music and answered questions for the press. Songs like “Motto,” in which they call the shit talking song and “Up and Down,” Too $hort stated Cube destroys the first verse, he does!
In the clip they share the purpose of them uniting and Ice Cube breaks down one of the albums highlights “Lace You Up.”
Ice Cube, E-40 & Too $hort Talk “Mount Westmore!”
Individually, these four artists have held down the West Coast for decades. Too $hort reflected the hustler’s mentality of the Bay area, first commissioning rap tapes for the pimps, movers, and shakers. From Mob Music to Hyphy, and beyond, E-40 has consistently evolved without compromise. Ice Cube is a Gangsta Rap pioneer whose razor-sharp commentary blended substance, style, and attitude during Hip-Hop‘s most progressive era. His iconic lyrics, a megaphone from the ‘hood, confronted law enforcement, media bias, and racism. Coming from Long Beach, Snoop applied all of these styles, before adding in one of the most adaptable flows in Rap. These styles mesh across 15 Mount Westmore songs on Snoop, Cube, 40, $hort.
Amid touring, Mount Westmore dropped “Big Subwoofer,” a 2021 video single that has achieved over 50 million streams, followed by the catchy, P-Lo-assisted video single “Too Big.” Snoop, Cube, 40, $hort flaunts depth and range. “Free Game” draws from Cali’s electro-funk roots and finds Mount Westmore supplying OG wisdom. E-40 sprinkles jewels for the mind before Snoop promotes Black ownership and self-empowerment. $hort Dog and Cube follow, offering valuable life lessons at no extra cost. Cube sets the table on “Activated,” an aggressive rally cry with each MC rapping in peak form. $hort, 40, and Snoop suggest the extra attention they gave this project.
The dynamic soundscape of California is represented on this album, evident from the first track. Mount Westmore showcases chemistry among four of the best to ever do it and shows a hunger to win, even as their towering legacies have long been etched in stone.
