Cube took a lot of the heat for N.W.A"s more excessive moments, maybe because he was the best rapper in the group, and his solo debut reacts by pushing the envelope even further. To the strains of a carpet-bombing Bomb Squad soundtrack, he adopts a way-over-the-top persona: an amoral, sawed-off-shotgun-wielding, 40-ounce-swilling, gang-banging, reflexively defiant ball of rage. If you can"t see the funny side, it can be tough to take--"You Can"t Fade Me" is especially loathsome taken at face value--but it"s pretty clear that he"s got some perspective (see "It"s A Man"s World," his wry head-to-head with Yo-Yo). Also, his indictments of institutionalized racism are tart, savage, and dead on the mark. --Douglas Wolk