HIP HOP NEWS: Ice Cube Prepares New Album, Raw Footage

Hip Hop icon and silver screen star Ice Cube is currently in the studio fine tuning his ninth solo album, Raw Footage.

The new album follows up from 2006's Laugh Now, Cry Later, which went gold, debuting at #2 on Billboard's R&B/Hip Hop chart and #4 on Billboard's Top 200 chart.

Among the guest artists appearing on the album will be longtime collaborator WC (formerly of Westside Connection), Nas, Musiq Soul Child and Scarface. Meanwhile, production will be handled by Wreck, Maestro, Emile and others.

On March 15, Cube will be performing at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival, including the new single Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It. The performance will be streamed live using Microsoft’s new Silverlight technology via the video streaming site uvntv.com, which Cube launched with producer DJ Pooh.

Raw Footage is slated for a June 17 release on Ice Cube's own Lench Mob Records.