PERFORMER: ICE CUBE
ALBUM: THE PREDATOR
LABEL: PRIORITY
THE BOTTOM LINE: A first-rate rap album explains -- and embodies -- the anger and confusion of the L.A. riots.
In America pop culture has always glorified criminals, real and fictional. Michael Corleone. Bonnie and Clyde. John Gotti. The current "gangsta" genre in rap is no exception, reveling in crimes and misdemeanors, drive-bys and lootings. And for one of its leading practitioners, Ice Cube, 23, crime certainly pays. His new album, The Predator, entered Billboard's pop as well as its R.-and-B. chart at No. 1 -- the first time a performer has pulled...