Check Yo Self
The third Predator single, with Das EFX, in an original and a Message remix.
Ice Cube, from The Predator (1993)
- Written by
- Ice Cube
- Released
- 13 July 1993
- Length
- 3:42
- Album
- The Predator
The third and final single from The Predator came out on 13 July 1993 on Lench Mob and Priority, and features the duo Das EFX. It topped both the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts and reached 20 on the Hot 100. DJ Muggs produced, with Cube as co-producer. There are two versions. The original samples the Sweet Inspirations' version of the Ikettes' I'm Blue (The Gong-Gong Song) and the intro of the Beastie Boys' The New Style, which uses the phrase check it throughout its chorus. The remix, Check Yo Self (The Message Remix), uses the beat of Grandmaster Flash's The Message.
The video uses the remix and picks up where the video for It Was a Good Day ends: police invade Cube's house and take him to jail, where he spends most of the clip with conflicts like those in the lyrics, before a female deputy helps him escape. One lyric refers to his Boyz n the Hood role: don't call me Doughboy. Christgau called it swaggering. A new recording with Chuck D was used in the 2010 film Due Date, and the Message remix appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Covers and versions
- Snoop Dogg (2010) A cover version released in January 2010.
- Wayne Krantz (2012) An instrumental version of the Message remix, on the album Howie 61.
More songs by Ice Cube
It Was a Good Day, No Vaseline, Wicked, Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)
Sources
- Check Yo Self, Wikipedia
- The Predator (album), Wikipedia
- Ice Cube, Consumer Guide reviews, Robert Christgau