Ice Cube vs. Biggie | Who's The Better Storyteller?

Become a Patron - bit.ly/JBNPatreon
Subscribe on KZbin - bit.ly/BuddenYTSub
Subscribe to our clips channel - bit.ly/JoeBuddenClips
Joe Budden goes LIVE every Monday at 5pm ET and every Thursday at 5pm on his ground-breaking Amp shows “Music Lovers Only" & "Conversation Lovers Only": live.onamp.com/joebudden
Watch more exclusive series and footage from the Joe Budden Network:
The Joe Budden Podcast - bit.ly/BuddenPodcast
Humans - bit.ly/JoeBuddenHumans
JBP Clips - bit.ly/JBPClips
JBP Shorts - bit.ly/JBPShorts
JBP Cartoon - bit.ly/JBPCartoon
Joe Budden Official Music Videos - bit.ly/BuddenVids
www.joebudden.com
/ joebudden
/ joebudden
#joebudden

[@abaileyjr97]

Death Certificate and Americkkas Most Wanted alone is some of the greatest storytelling albums

[@GrinchyGreen334]

FACTS!!!!

[@nookex6058]

Huge facts!!!

[@GrinchyGreen334]

People be forgetting about Cube’s contributions to hip hop outside of N.W.A… Death Certificate and Amerikkka’s most wanted are hip hop CLASSICS. After Cube left I stopped listening to N.W.A I can’t lie. Their production was still good because of Dre but the rhymes wasn’t as good anymore without Cube

[@joeblackie5336]

Ghetto Vet, 3 Strikes you In….

[@abaileyjr97]

@@GrinchyGreen334 Cube was truly the voice for N.W.A!! But like you said his contributions to the game was very essential, especially for black culture and societal issues

[@johnnydoggworth]

Most of these biggie fans are just east coast bias! Cube has numerous classics!

[@regomoditswemolai5168]

Biggie is way more listened than ice cube world wide. I'm from South Africa

[@johnnydoggworth]

@@regomoditswemolai5168 that's good to know on a geographic nature, that still does not equate his body of work better than a M.C . Who has been in the game damn near 35 years!

[@vondongaming]

Names em then

[@markishayes1888]

Thank you

[@GrinchyGreen334]

@@vondongaming name em??? U don’t know none of them??? Let’s start with Today was a good day…. Maybe Boyz in da hood… how about once upon a time in the projects…. Oh yeah maybe Gangsta, Gangsta?? Should I go on??

[@Steelo832]

Cube is definitely a better storyteller but Biggie is one of the best

[@islandpatriot2941]

Stop smoking dust mix with lean. Cube stories are all hood s*** nothing else. You need to get your outside the ghetto and learn other things.

[@DM-bk9lm]

Crazy this is a debate, cube by far

[@Godfearingrashad]

One of ice cube's best storytelling rhymes is my summer vacation

[@donnellwaters6852]

Catch a flight to St. Louis…that’s cool cause nobody knew us

[@AssistantToTheHNIC]

Those stories are based on actual events. LA cats heading to places easily accessible off I 80 like Omaha Nebraska in the 1980s and pine Bluff Arkansas .. where gang ties still reside 3 generation later ..

[@justinwinfree7843]

I actually like once upon a time in the projects

[@williambradford9006]

Cube writing for Eazy E was story telling

[@tragic504]

I would go with Ice Cube on this. Because if you weren’t from Cali. Cube basically made it feel like you knew some of the by laws of living in Cali and the environment.

[@Godfearingrashad]

Death certificate was a learning blueprint growing up in Los Angeles. I learned a lot at the age of 12 years old

[@GrinchyGreen334]

@@Godfearingrashad the exact same age I was when it dropped. It made me the street smart but still conscious man that I am now. Death Certificate is in my top 10 hip hop albums of all time. The funny thing is that I love it more now as a adult than I did as a kid because I fully understand it

[@Godfearingrashad]

@@GrinchyGreen334 man he was talking about going to get std check out and wearing condoms. Stay away from the neighborhood cherry. Don't sell rocks. Don't be a sellout and you still kept it gangster

[@MichaelBrown-ti1un]

How To Survive in South Central, Amerikkka's Most Wanted and Ghetto Bird are just a few songs that took listeners from across the nation and throughout the world on a trip through South-Central LA, Watts, Compton, Inglewood and Long Beach.

[@GrinchyGreen334]

@@MichaelBrown-ti1un Damn bro I miss albums like Death Certificate and Amerikkkas most wanted.

[@kedricklewis5391]

Cube introduced us to Bay Bay kids. They had a whole movie made because of his story telling.

[@GrinchyGreen334]

Facts 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@MichaelBrown-ti1un]

I didn't even think about this lol. BeBe's kids were first referenced on Once Upon A Time in the Projects. Imma go see if there's anything out there showing Robin Harris being inspired by that idea before he started that show.

[@mikeharv2978]

No he didn't the term bebe kids was from Robin Harris stand up routines which were well known before Cube's first album.

[@papertags]

​@@mikeharv2978exactly

[@ddavis8988]

I don't know about story telling. I went on a binge on Cube's music the last 2 weeks. And I always thought he was great. Now, after listening to him, I think he's definitely underrated. Ice Cibe is one of the fee artists ever that cam give you a great story telling song, a strong politically balanced song, give a top diss song ever and then turn around and give you a commercial/club banger. There's probably 4 or 5 artists total who were able to do that. Biggie is not one of them.

[@CallingALLmarks]

Cubes Ghetto Vet is a storytelling masterclass… Biggie just had better flow and cadence

[@joeblackie5336]

👊🏿 yes bro! I’ve been saying this for years, Summer Vacation, One Upon a Time In the Projects, Boys in the Hood.

[@MELLWALT5000]

Lil ass G and Robin Hood.

[@archerQ]

Hell yeah.

[@sleepydean781]

Big had deeper stories

[@joeblackie5336]

@@sleepydean781 what???!!!! You sound foolish…. The Product, I Want To Kill Sam, A Bird in the Hand, Who’s Got the Camera?, Us, 3 Strike You In, Who’s The Mack?, just go and listen to those…. Don’t say deeper, just say you’ve never listened to Cube’s music and you have an east coast bias. Nothing that Big has can compare to those songs.

[@Kickinthescience]

Cube been storytelling since Gangsta Gangsta

[@Clipwilsonbeats]

Actually since boyz n the hood

[@austinysla6331]

Did we forget he's the one who wrote Boyz N The Hood

[@archerQ]

Ghetto Vet

[@mrkafry98]

I ain’t the one!!!!! He been doing stories.

[@lilcon2659]

Cube Was The Pen Of The West At One Point Big Don't Have Enough Music.

[@OmarScruggs]

Boyz In Da Hood (the song) changed how rappers told story

[@HeavyMental1000]

Ice Cube's "Once upon a time in the projects..." is a masterclass on hip hop storytelling. Literally, anyone wanting to understand how to tell a story in a rap needs to study that song.

[@Komplexkai]

BOYZ IN THE HOOD can’t leave out the records he wrote for others That kick started the whole shit bro 😂😂

[@colbymccullough1650]

CHRISTOPHER WALLACE!!!!😂😂😂

[@Jinxcity84]

Biggie is literally 90% storytelling in his verses. Even one more chance is literally storytelling

[@tragic504]

I see one more chance more like a brag-a-docious type of song but the video was a story more than the lyrics.

[@scs2955]

Ppl sleeping on biggie

[@tragic504]

@@scs2955 I don’t think people sleeping on Biggie. We’re not talking about overall lyrical ability. It’s like saying whose the better dunker Jordan or Vince Carter. Of Course Jordan is the better overall player but it’s arguable that Vince Carter is the better dunker. Biggie better over all lyrically but it’s arguable that Cube is the better storyteller.

[@justinr8428]

I agree biggie had ppl so caught up in his style and music they ain’t even realize he was story telling

[@thepoisonid9535]

WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@troyamari7]

That New York bias is the weirdest shit ever.

[@oleschooldon5494]

Cube, Nas, and Scarface!!!

[@joeblackie5336]

They still need to do that album

[@tris87don16]

G rap

[@jamaaldavis7907]

Scarface..nas... ghost..cube ..slick / g rap..top storytellers

[@giostotle]

Aside from the music, Cube wrote stories in movies as well.

[@Twinshit410]

That’s true

[@TroyBlyden]

Incredible point

[@3rdGenerationCancer]

So I guess Spike Lee would've made a 5 mic album if he decided to rap. Two different realms

[@Twinshit410]

@@3rdGenerationCancer duh we all know that it’s two different realms but to be able to sell and have success in both is rare just because you can write a hit doesn’t mean you can write a movie and vice versa and you have to look at how many black writers were in Hollywood at that time

[@terancewilliams41510]

Love Biggie, but I have to take Cube on better storytelling 💯

[@larryconnerjr1835]

Death certificate in my opinion is the most underrated great album in the history of hip hop if a New York rapper made that album it would be talked about all the time like illmatic or some other New York Rapper’s album but i personally being from south loved ice cube more than biggie but I think the story telling argument from these 2 artists is a good one

[@donpido6023]

That’s a fact!!!

[@chuuuchify]

Top 3 album all time!!!

[@iiVERSEii]

Cube def, but don’t get it twisted i got mad love for biggie💯

[@Bigjizay]

"What can I do?" is another Ice Cube storytelling classic!

[@mannyderosa8512]

Exactly! He has so many that some get overlooked. Hell, even Ghetto vet was good

[@chuuuchify]

Angry 88-93 Cube was untouchable!!! My Summer Vacation anyone???

[@mroctober3583]

Anyone who's being honest and objective knows without question it's ICE CUBE 🧊

[@Jinxcity84]

Not true lol almost all of biggies verses are literally story telling. Even one more chance us story telling lol

[@Whatisahandlehuh]

I mean if we’re talking bout ‘Friday’ franchise lol then yeah he’s a better story teller. But rap wise? Na

[@mroctober3583]

@@Whatisahandlehuh You can't name 10 storytelling tracks from biggie, Cube had decades of storytelling material

[@mroctober3583]

@@Jinxcity84 You don't know what storytelling is trying to use every damn track of bigs 😂 That's how you know you can't bang with Cube 😂 when u gotta resort to "ALL-UMMM"

[@GrinchyGreen334]

@@Whatisahandlehuhu never listened to any Ice cube album before have you?? Just say that

[@joyfromchi5882]

Once upon a time in the projects yo....

[@saintmichaels4845]

Bigs Stories Are More Vivid Than Cube. His Punchlines Are Cinematic Like You’re Watching It Unfold Right In Front Of You

[@derekware2888]

Truth

[@itsyourscenttv.7040]

Ice Cube hands down - once upon a time in projects. mic drop

[@3rdGenerationCancer]

Gimme The Loot by itself takes it

[@jimibeamon7316]

BY ITSELF!!!!!

[@theonlykingA]

Glad someone posted this cause I was about to myself

[@TeezyfolKKz]

Cube wrote Eazy stuff too though. Boyz in the Hood is one of the biggest stories ever. NWA contributions (verses/writtens). It’s not a wash for Big at all. It’s a lot of bias in here.

[@theonlykingA]

@@TeezyfolKKz I love Boyz in the hood, but I also think one of the contributing factors to that song is the fact that it was one of the first like it. If you look at Gimme the loot, not only is it a story but it's a conversation of two different perspectives, BIG plays both parts. It's definitely not a wash, but I think BIG edges out the win.

[@demetriusrousseau7919]

For example:[the gunshots] Take That MFrs!!!(with an Ice Cube voice sample). But it's also gangster comedy rap.

[@dariustheegreat]

A story to tell, me and my bitch, warning, everyday struggle, suicidal thoughts. When you think of storytelling, think of being able to envision what's going on. I'm a fan of both but when I heard Biggie I could just close my eye and picture everything he was saying.

[@GrinchyGreen334]

Once upon a time in the projects, My summer Vacation,Gangsta, Gangsta, Steady Mobbin, Today was a good day,I mean like come on?? I got more to

[@crookedkingz09]

Boys N The Hood - written by Ice Cube

[@GrinchyGreen334]

@@crookedkingz09 FACTS!!!!

[@dariustheegreat]

@@GrinchyGreen334 that's your personal opinion brudda

[@georgeclooney6071]

All of those stories were about the same person. 2day Was A Good Day, Check Yourself, Dopeman, True 2 Da Game, Friday, Natural Born Killers, What Can I Do. Ice Cube was more diverse and had more substance with his storytelling, he clears Biggie.

[@J_Sovereign]

These types of debates would be dope as a series on the JBP

[@papadrow5302]

Once upon time in the projects summer vacation them two right there is top notch

[@BenGettinit204]

A Young N*** summer vacation

[@joeblackie5336]

Lil Ass G, What Can I Do?, Ghetto Vet

[@giostotle]

Not to mention all the NWA songs that Cube wrote… movies, 40 years in the game…

[@hiu9036]

East coast bias still remains the same

[@rheylew]

I hate that Sticky Fingaz is never mentioned as a story teller, The Autobiography of Kirk Jones is a masterclass storytelling album from beginning to end. And he did whole movies with rap-storytelling lines...he just never charted like that outside of Onyx.

[@Saveyourbs]

😂

[@Destroyer-Grizzly-BIH]

Going with Cube just makes the most logical sense, cuh!

[@joeblackie5336]

They didn’t even try and go down the list of songs because it’s not even close. Boys in the Hood was his first story, and it continues from their. Y’all buggin Joe, I guess he needs to keep his New York cred.😂

[@polishedoptics8739]

Watch your mouth Biggie Smalls end of discussion

[@joeblackie5336]

@@polishedoptics8739 I don’t need to watch nothing, Cube is the definition of a story teller. Not just raps, movies, and TV shows, so you stop 🛑 with your east coast bias and do your homework.

[@Time4SumAksion021]

"I got a story to tell" game over!

[@OmarScruggs]

Very east coast bias on here. Cube story telling is so dope and he has more story songs period than Biggie by a lot

[@erickcortez6636]

That Joe B all day lol

[@nhytower]

Ice Cube Hands Down!!!!

[@AaronaCreates]

Today was a Good Day was way larger than Juicy… Really Doe was storytelling. Fuqq The Police was autobiographical he got assaulted by police and it inspired the song🤷🏽‍♀️💯

[@joeblackie5336]

Talk that ish!!! 👊🏿

[@3MUnique]

I’m a little surprised that Joe Budden doesn’t know better. Ice Cube’s stories in rap so vivid that his pen game translated 2 film. It’s really not up 4 debate. Some East Coast dudes was out 2 lunch when the West was repping.

[@ReggieRedNobel]

Cruisin' down the street in my '64 Jockin' the bitches, clockin' the dough Went to the park to get the scoop Knuckleheads out there cold shooting some hoops

[@tonehart]

IM WITH THE GUY WHO WROTE ALL THE FRIDAYS LOL HOW HE NOT A GREAT STORY TELLER WHEN HE WROTE THE MOVIES YALL LOVE AND QUOTE

[@LesegoMkhonto-tq5tn]

When are you dropping a project joe....a loose quarter is dope

[@joeblackie5336]

Cube literally has written more hit movies than Biggie has hit songs, so what are we talking about?

[@skillz78]

Not even the same. Plenty of story tellers in Hollywood that can’t rap. Both big and cube are great story tellers. It’s a pick ‘em for me. Cube has been in the game longer due to biggie short career. So I can see him getting an edge on that.

[@joeblackie5336]

@@skillz78 bro, respectfully go from Boys in the Hood song through Cube first four albums, it’s not even close.

[@grinchoi1]

Nas is the greatest storyteller without a doubt

[@rawjan39]

Once Upon A Time in the Project.. Puts You there

[@eiffelpex]

Parks saying he's familiar with Cube's catalog but still picking Big is wild

[@charlesjohnson4874]

Bc he’s cappin for Joe lol

[@Luke973T]

Cube. He told stories involving every aspect of a black man's experience in America and the hood and documented history. Biggie just told stories about hustling, street violence, balling and hoes. Cube did all of that too plus the rest of his stories. Big was great at what he did...cube was elite from 90 to 96

[@TheRelentlessKnight]

Still don't make cube a better storyteller

[@iraford5788]

Great topic of hip hop storytelling.

[@wyoungmn]

I’m going cube.. but biggies the warning was great

[@Countywide]

Cube hands down!!

[@2w0nGranTurismo]

I cant remember the name of the song but Ice Cube has a song where he raps about losing his limbs to a car bomb and it MADE U FEEL LIKE u were actually there🔥💯

[@cheddagogetta9527]

Cube all day

[@kulfred]

Parks and Joe wildin.

[@prettyplease1982]

Once upon the time In The projects -ice cube ...y'all on dope

[@d.michael372]

Listen man I’m from tha H, and Biggie’s flow is remarkable. I prefer his delivery over Cube. We talking about storytelling? Cube got that no bias here. Anyone says different is either from NY or they have never listen to cubes catalog, it’s filled w storytelling records. This really shouldn’t be a discussion.

[@bpipe3688]

This debate is why the West Coast, Down South, and Midwest don’t rock with most NYC shit.

[@scorpio-yp3hu]

I hope they do a topic also on No Vaseline vs Hit em up.

[@michaelbatts3691]

And don't forget all the raps Cube wrote for Eazy telling stories

[@adamherrington]

These guys have clearly not heard Biggie’s song ‘Somebody Gotta Die’. I think Biggie’s manipulation with words and the vivid imagery it creates is far superior to Cube’s. Below is Biggie’s first verse from this song: I'm sittin' in the crib dreamin' about Lear jets and coupes The way Salt shoops and how to sell records like Snoop (oops!) I'm interrupted by a doorbell 3:52 - who the hell is this? I gets up quick, cocks my shit Stop the dogs from barkin', then proceed to walkin' It's a face that I seen before My nigga Sing, we used to sling on the 16th floor Check it! I look deeper; I see blood up on his sneakers And his fist gripped a chrome four-fifth So I dip Nigga, is you creepin' or speakin'? He tells me C-Rock just got hit up at the Beacon I opens up the door, pitiful: "Is he in critical?" Retaliation for this one won't be minimal 'Cause I'm a criminal Way before the rap shit Bust the gat shit; Puff won't even know what happened If it's done smoothly, silencers on the Uzi Stash in the hooptie, my alibi: any cutie With a booty that done fuck Big Pop Head spinnin', reminiscin' 'bout my man C-Rock …. Point made.

[@KerkinWayno]

My nigga Tuson, umdrives a black Yukon, usually has the slow grooves on, usually rock the Isley… That a complete and utter character discography.. the debate is no debat u kees your including movies

[@adamherrington]

Well said!

[@jaykristian745]

Nah, it's the way he ends though! "There's jason with his back to me Talkin to his faculty I start to get a funny feelin Put the mask on in case his niggas start squealin Scream his name out Squeeze six nothin shorter Nigga turned around holdin his daughter" and then the baby sound effects come in. It's BIG and it ain't even close.

[@thomascauley4556]

Facts!!!

[@lelandcanty5765]

Parks brought up one hell of a point between fictional and autobiographical storytelling within lyrics

[@chrissmith7502]

Niggas Bleed is an ICONIC MASTERCLASS in story telling!!!!! DONE AND DONE with respect to CUBE

[@kingdavid2624]

My summer vaction who got the camera & Once upon the time in the projects classic cube story telling

[@kingtchalla2775]

love u ICE way to stand on business bro SALUTE

[@davidbutler7008]

Cube wrote Boys N Da Hood, bro I’m sorry that East Coast bias is crazy

[@bigmaine8759]

Every biggie song could be written as a movie or short story.

[@Ricardo-dv9vv]

Not true, stop bugging

[@KingCooper06]

Listen.....not knowing AUTOMATICALLY which Cube record Parks was talking about was a red flag. Them east coast dudes is different.....Today was a good day is like will smith's summertime.

[@cameronthompson6765]

“I’m a vet” is a better story

[@AntwanFloydSr]

Cube wins hands down: I Ain't the One, Boyz in the Hood, Once Upon a Time in the Projects, A Gangster's Fairytale, My Summer Vacation, Alive on Arrival, It Was a Good Day, Gangsta's Fairytale 2, Ghetto Vet, Once Upon a Time in the Projects 2, Extradiction

[@RelleRelly]

Cube fasho

[@charlesgill2981]

My summer vacation

[@michaelbatts3691]

Once upon a time in the projects, Who's the Mack, Amerikas Most Wanted, I aint the one , Ghetto Bird so many

[@jaykristian745]

Ice Cube is top 5 for me, but BIG was the black Alfred Hitchcock. Somebody's Got To Die, Warning, Niggas Bleed, Story Go Tell, Friend Of Mine. BIG was so vivid with the smallest details in his rhymes. "I look deeper I see blood up on his sneaker...."

[@mellofello6792]

Listen to Horny Lil Devil and tell me if BIG could tell that story! Huge fan of BIG but it’s Cube hands down!

[@jaykristian745]

@@mellofello6792 Sooo you missed the part where I said Cube is top five for me? I know that's man's catalog and he's a genius storyteller! BIG is still different when it comes to capturing the listeners ear.

[@leemuskogee629]

What they hittin foe, nuff said

[@RaiVibez]

Why Slick Rick isn't this conversation?

[@ognak1]

Cube...... the man helped craft Fuck the Police and other NWA joints. Biggie is 🔥, but people have a short memory. Cube's pen is RIDICULOUS

[@NoCaptivityB]

A story is a story. if someone says "tell me a story", its semi-made up. But at the end of the day, its about how you tell a story. Two people can tell you the same joke or story and it sounds totally different. The way in which BIG tell a story is so captivating, you can actually see it just as much as you hear it. The sophistication in his lyricism is beyond belief. Not taking away anything from Cube but they are in two totally different leagues from a skill standpoint and it shows in the music when they're story telling. IMO, Today is a good day is not a story. you cant sit down and tell the story of Today was a good day to somebody. Gimme the loot is a story, Somebody gotta die is a story, Niggas bleed is a story. They have plots and endings.

[@NHBONTHEARM]

What bout warning & everyday struggle

[@gilfordmccormack8140]

Both were great storytellers but Big gets the edge. The stories Big told could've been movies.

[@timothyFuller22]

Big also use to say a lot of gay shit too

[@tris87don16]

@@timothyFuller22 😂😂

[@Hooperd2023]

@@timothyFuller22fr

[@gilfordmccormack8140]

@@timothyFuller22 Let's keep it real alot of rappers said gay shit before.

[@ddg112]

Could have been movies so could is the key word,Cube story’s were MOVIES DUH 🙄

[@BigUnk49]

This shouldn't even be a debate

[@deontemeriwether]

Cmon y’all that man cube wrote Cruising down the street in my ‘64

[@RickChilds-kq1ti]

Cube also got storytelling when he was writing all of NWA songs as well

[@jamilmuhammad7465]

I’m rolling with Cube

[@davidblank5296]

I'M FROM FLA SO NO BIAS HERE THEY BOTH HAD THE YOUNG ME FEELING LIKE I KNEW EAST/WEST CULTURE I GOTTA LEAN SLIGHTLY WIT CUBE....GOOD DAY WAS THE TIE BREAKER FOR ME🤷🏿‍♂️

[@keithrobinson8553]

I think biggies better. But Cubes "My summer vacation" is classic

[@larmitch115]

Once apon a time in the project Yo! I damn near had to …. A hoe!! That was a classic

[@CorneliusGriffin-ns5ky]

Once apon a time in the projects

[@DutchWeazel]

Ice Cube for me, easily. He has way more story telling songs, and as mentioned by himself, he writes stories for movies.

[@DutchWeazel]

If it's about who's better technical, yeah Biggie. But if it's about bringing across a message/story, Cube got it.

[@tyfab1636]

They on the east coast so of course they say biggie

[@OmarScruggs]

Juicy is not story telling. Not at all

[@outlawjbc545]

So basically this debate is disrespect Cubes whole career for a man who’s been gone for over 20 years?

[@LacedRhymes]

Ice cube my summer vacation!!!!! Hands down 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@comeflexwithme_4493]

Life after death is the best hip hop album of all time

[@therealpistoljr]

I edge it to Biggie in a 2-1 debatable. Cube Was hella nice too. Hence his movies are so good as Well.

[@TheB-ManChannel]

So I could do a whole think piece on this but I'll let yall debate. What can the HOOD live without, juicy - B.I.G or the Friday trilogy from ice cube? Which one would you erase from history?

[@thecoach11]

Cube wrote NWA songs his storytelling is impeccable 🖊️✍🏾🎤💯💯💯💯🔥🔥

[@hamilton3971]

Cube is the correct all this New York bias is sickening

[@larmitch115]

Y’all forgot about dope man and boys in the hood all iconic classic stories wrote by Cube it’s not even close