iSound

Some groups make hit records. Others create movements. Westside Connection does both.
The super group of Ice Cube, Mack 10 and WC has finally returned after a seven-year hiatus with "Terrorist Threats," one of the most explosive hip-hop albums of the century. That's right, the follow-up to 1996's double platinum, incendiary "Bow Down" brings the edge, angst and attitude that was missing back to hard-core hip-hop.

"So many people are going soft, so many love songs on the radio that I felt like I probably wouldn't be able to buy nothing I liked unless I bought my own stuff," Ice Cube explains. "It was just time to be hard-core and not be so damn soft all the Goddamn time. The mixture of R&B is killing the music."

Indeed, there's nothing soft on "Terrorist Threats." The album's title refers to rap's counter-culture potential. More so than any other music, rap has the ability to strike fear in the hearts...