CLEVELAND, Ohio – Rapper, actor, writer, producer and director Ice Cube has come a long way from his days as one of “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted.” As a member of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees N.W.A., he was a primary figure in the foundation and rise of West Coast rap and the Gangsta rap era in the late 1980s.
Cube was once one of the most controversial, magnetic and downright scary figures in pop culture. But like the artist formerly known as Snoop Doggy Dogg, who followed in his wake, Cube has survived and grown into an icon — a diversified entertainer, basketball league owner and a superlative capitalist.
Wednesday night at Rocket Arena, Cube returned to Cleveland after a 12-year absence, brought his “Truth To Power Tour,” celebrating “4 Decades of Attitude.” He took a surprisingly age-eclectic crowd through his extensive catalog and career, touching more than 30 songs, mostly offering two verses and two choruses before moving on. Cube commanded the sparsely designed stage like an O.G., with no hype man and no onstage posse — just two stone-faced dudes standing on either side…