South by Southwest 2008: Actor/rapper Ice Cube performs at Auditorium Shores during the music festival in Austin. (DMN - Video/editing: Nathan Hunsinger) More SXSW 2008 coverage
03/16/2008
AUSTIN – Ice Cube isn't content to just be a rap legend and a movie star. On Saturday, he showed up at South by Southwest sporting a brand new title: Internet TV exec.
The original gangsta described his new project, Uvntv.com, as "the ESPN of hip-hop, but with no boundaries." According to Cube, it'll have live channels devoted to extreme skateboarding, Hollywood, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and "even John McCain, if he wants one."
The site, launched in January, also will stream live rap concerts from around the world, which could be a problem: As interviewer Dave Marsh pointed out, rappers aren't known for punctuality.
"I mean, who's ever been to a hip-hop show that started late?" he wisecracked.
Cube laughed nervously, as did his Uvntv.com partner DJ Pooh, who had arrived so late to the Austin Convention Center that the interview started without him.
At times, the 75-minute session felt like one long ad for Uvntv.com. But Cube eventually got around to talking about music.
ERICH SCHLEGEL/DMN
Ice Cube performed at Auditorium Shores on Saturday.
The 38-year-old former N.W.A. star spoke fondly of the late '80s, "when political hip-hop was king. But in the '90s, we got into escapism rap and 'Let's just party.' "
Apparently, the party's finally over. He described his upcoming Raw Footage as "a record dedicated to the brain, not the booty."
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