Ice Cube's ESSENTIALS package (a complement of sorts to hisGREATEST HITS CD from 2001) skews toward the expectations of commercial audiences, and in that respect, displays his uncanny ability to deliver several monster hits over 20 years,even when the West Coast brand of gangsta bravado had fallen out of favor among record buyers. Any compilation that contains a slew of solid classics like "Rollin' With The Lench Mob", "It Was A Good Day", and "Check Yo Self" is worth investigating. And what's more remarkable is how latter-day cutslike "Go To Church" and "Ghetto Vet" integrate themselves seamlessly without unfavorably calling attention to the high energy of his earlier albums.