"1988 was a different world" - Joe Rogan and Ice Cube discuss FBI letter sent to rap group N.W.A regarding songs and lyrics

Recently, Joe Rogan had rapper and actor Ice Cube on episode 2004 of The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE). Ice Cube, whose real name is O'Shea Jackson Sr., was part of the rap group N.W.A. from 1986 to 1989 and recorded their seminal album 'Straight Outta Compton' along with rappers Easy-E, Dr. Dre and MC Ren.

However, disputes with the group led to Ice Cube leaving N.W.A. in 1989 to focus on a solo career. In the late 80s and early 90s, there was an uprising of African-American folk against police brutality, and the medium of communication was hip-hop music. Songs like 'F**k tha Police' by N.W.A, Ice-T's 'Cop K*ller' and Toddy Tee's 'Batteram' became anthems during the 1992 LA riots.

For this reason, rappers like Ice Cube, Ice-T, Snoop Dogg and Easy-E, along with groups like N.W.A made it to the FBI's watchlist in the early 90s. The FBI sent a letter to the N.W.A with regards to their 'Straight Outta Compton' album.

Ice Cube told Rogan:

"We [were] looking for them [the FBI] to raid our houses and sh*t, like, damn - because we [were] singing the Batteram, we [were] seeing them run up on people's houses on d*pe charges, you know, whatever. Especially in the late 80s, early 90s, they got a kick out of just running [up on] people's houses and sh*t."

Skip to 1:55 for Ice Cube recalling the FBI vs. the LA hip-hop scene:

Joe Rogan chimed in saying that around the late 80s was the first time when the government showed concern regarding rap music:

"[The year] 1988 was a different. And that was the first [time] we'd heard that the government and politicians were concerned about rap music."

Poster by the National Coalition Against Censorship [Image courtesy: www.ncac.org]

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When Ice Cube told Joe Rogan about the good cops who treated him like "real humans"

Joe Rogan and Ice Cube discussed the 'good cops vs. bad cops' situation back in the late 80s. While the rapper and his former rap group N.W.A were on the police and FBI's watchlist for their 'concerning' music, the rapper-turned-actor did acknowledge some good men in uniform who actually enjoyed their music.

Here's what Jackson Sr. said:

"[There were] a lot of cops that we respected, that came through and they would treat us like, you know, real humans. You know, not like suspects. So we knew some dude that would come to us [and] tell us, 'You know, you need to watch out, be careful, you know what I'm saying? Does anybody know [about] something that happened around the corner?' and all these little [things]. But they [were] respectful and we respected their authority."

In the same episode of JRE, the rapper spoke about how certain cops, who were after the group for their anti-authoritarian songs, had to be bribed with the group's merchandise:

"If you all [have] got a couple of pictures, a couple of 8/10s, you all sign [an autograph] for my daughter, we aren't going have any problems."