Ice Cube Still Hopeful About Chris Tucker

Ice Cube is still planning to return to the Friday franchise. And he's still holding out hope that the original's breakout star, actor/comedian Chris Tucker, will be on board for the series' fourth installment. "I'm waiting to give it to them, but it's politics and it's economics getting it to where it needs to be," Cube said. "It's moving in the right direction to get made, but it just ain't moving as fast as I want it ... but it's happening. ... With a script, nobody is all the way down until they like their deal and they sign it, so everything is just a theory. He's written into the movie, and once they give us the green light to start hiring actors, then we're going to present him with the movie and an offer and we'll see if he takes it."

Ice Cube is still planning to return to the Friday franchise. And he's still holding out hope that the original's breakout star, actor/comedian Chris Tucker, will be on board for the series' fourth installment.

"I'm waiting to give it to them, but it's politics and it's economics getting it to where it needs to be," Cube said. "It's moving in the right direction to get made, but it just ain't moving as fast as I want it ... but it's happening. ... With a script, nobody is all the way down until they like their deal and they sign it, so everything is just a theory. He's written into the movie, and once they give us the green light to start hiring actors, then we're going to present him with the movie and an offer and we'll see if he takes it."

Ice Cube Announces New Album

West Coast hip hop star Ice Cube has announced that he is hard at work on his tenth solo official studio release. The rap veteran revealed that his next album will be entitled Everything's Corrupt, and says that the album will be full of traditional West Coast edge and commentary.

“I’m working on a record right now, I think I'm gon’ call itEverything's Corrupt," he revealed. "It's just really hardcore West Coast hip hop, what I do. I don't think changing the formula is what should be done. I think it's all about do what you do best and give the people what they want."

Cube's last album was 2010s I Am the West.

Rick Ross Explains Cancelled Shows

A representative for Rick Ross has addressed the circumstances that led to the rapper canceling his expected show dates in Australia. Ross was set to perform Down Under but pulled out--causing many to believe that he abandoned the shows for medical reasons. But Ross' reps say the cancellation was due to contractual issues.

“[Rick] Ross was looking forward to touching the people of Australia, this event as it is the one of biggest urban festivals in Australia, he is very disappointed that he will not be performing,” a rep for Rick Ross told AllHipHop. “It is unfortunate that the payment arrangements did not meet contractual deadlines.”

Chris Brown, Kelly Rowland, Lupe Fiasco, Ice Cube, Trey Songz, Naughty By Nature and Big Sean are all still expected to perform on the tour, which runs from April 14-22.

F. Gary Gray Attached To N.W.A. Film

Famed director F. Gary Gray is the latest name to be attached to the forthcoming biopic about legendary gangsta rap group N.W.A. Gray is reportedly now attached to the film, titled Straight Outta Compton. Gray previously directed a wide range of films, from comedies like Friday to action flicks like The Negotiator.

Gray also directed a number of hip hop videos, including former N.W.A. star Ice Cube's classic "It Was A Good Day." Cube also starred in Friday.

Gray's involvement with the project has not been officially announced, however. Boyz N the Hood director John Singleton was also formerly attached to the project.

Ice Cube 'Explains' "It Was A Good Day"

Ice Cube revealed the real inspiration behind his 1992 classic "It Was A Good Day." There have been several blogs speculating on the actual events surrounding the song, and the hip hop star has spoke to the Huffington Post about where the song really came from.

“You know — it’s a song. It’s a fictional song. It’s basically my interpretation of what a great day would be. Do you know what I’m saying?” Cube confessed. “So, you know, it’s a little of this and a little of that. I don’t think you can pinpoint the day.”

Hip hop obsessives have speculated, based on mentions of the weather, a reference to the Lakers playing and beating the Seattle Supersonics, and a line about a lack of violence in Los Angeles, that the day was either January 20th, 1992 or November 30th, 1988.

Bangladesh Discusses Debut Album

Bangladesh has produced some of the biggest urban hits of the past few years, and the superproducer is looking forward to releasing his as-of-yet-untitled debut album. Bang says that fans won't have to wait much longer for his project.

"I'ma definitely release it this year," revealed the producer. "I've been working on it for a couple months now."

"I got Rick Ross on there. I got Busta Rhymes on there. Pusha-T, Jadakiss, Kendrick Lamar, Ice Cube, Game," he added. "I definitely wanna get Andre 3000 on it. I wanna get Justin Bieber on it. I did some joints on there, so it's definitely possible."

Ice Cube Serious About 4th Friday?

He began hinting at it earlier this year, but it looks like Ice Cube really could be attempting to resurrect his popular Friday film series. And original film star Chris Tucker might actually be on board.

TMZ claims that a Cube Vision Production rep said that the movie is going to happen.

“Absolutely yes the studio is in the process of getting the entire original cast to do anotherFriday," the rep says. "[Ice Cube] is very excited about this and has every intention to make it happen.”

Nothing has been made official yet, however. No actors have been contractually bound for the project and there's no word if Mike Epps, who 'replaced' Tucker in the sequels, will have a part in the project.

Ice-T Dropping Hip Hop Doc

Ice-T is releasing his own hip hop documentary called The Art of Rap. The rapper/actor has recruited 50 different emcees, including Eminem, Kanye West to discuss lyricism in hip hop. Ice-T says he wants to emphasize the seriousness of rhyme skills.

"I've interviewed 50 emcees - everybody - [from] Kanye West, Ice Cube, Eminem to Melle Mell, Grandmaster Caz," explained Ice. "The Hip Hop scene [has] bec[o]me so pop. I was like, 'I'm gonna do a movie about real rappers and what inspired us.' Maybe that'll hit a reset button on the game and let these kids know it's not just about a pop record. Rap can do a lot."

Gwyneth Paltrow Spits Some N.W.A.

Gwyneth Paltrow has made a second career out of pronouncing her 'street cred.' The Oscar-winning actress who chums around with Jay-Z and Beyonce recently revealed her love for gangsta rap icons N.W.A. She took her admiration a step further by rapping some of the lyrics to the group's classic "Gangsta, Gangsta" on the BBC, after an interviewer revealed he was unfamiliar with the L.A. quintet's classic Straight Outta Compton.

"[Straight Outta Compton?] It's a classic N.W.A. album," Paltrow told BBC host Graham Norton before he asked her to rap. "You want me to [rap?] There's one word I can't say. OK -- 'Yo, here's a little something about a 'uh' like me, never should have been let out the penitentiary/Ice Cube, I like to say that I'm a crazy motherf*cker from around the way/Since I was a youth, I smoked weed out/Now I'm the motherf*cker that you read about.' [laughs]"

Ice Cube Blasts L.A. Radio

Ice Cube took Los Angeles radio stations to task in a recent interview. The hip hop legend blasted radio in general for sabotaging hip hop, but, in particular, he questioned stations that have lessened the amount of hip hop being played on their airwaves.

"I'm not really happy with radio out in L.A.," Cube said in an interview. "I think they turned their back on the hip-hop scene out there. Not stations like KDAY, they still play the hits. But some stations that got a little more wattage, they're not bumping the hip-hop like they're supposed to...I think if you really focus too much on radio, you'll be lost as an artist anyway. I think radio is very deceptive. It's kind of fool's gold 'cause you always chasing your last radio hit instead of just going and doing hip-hop like you supposed to, you worrying about spins, stuff like that. To me, radio has messed up a lot of artists."