It’s going to be completely out of whack.
L.A. rapper Ice Cube is coming to ‘Wack April 12, at the Landing Sports Centre on Spadina Avenue.
The alcohol-free event is almost an all-ages show with its 15+ entry rule, says presenter J.T. Pangli of Clydesdale Entertainment in Abbotsford.
Opening acts include Swollen Members and DJ Chrome.
“People are surprised to hear a big act like Ice Cube is coming to Chilliwack,” he says.
To present the well-known rapper, the 28-year-old entrepreneur says he made sure he did his home work and his due diligence to provide a unique concert experience.
There will be a security force of 20, some RCMP presence at the live show, and parents are welcome to come.
What about Ice Cube’s violent gangsta image?
“When he was younger maybe that was the direction he was going, but he’s a business man,” Pangli tells The Progress. “He can separate the image, the art and the music. These days, he’s not trying to send the wrong message.”
The Abbotsford-based entrepreneur started Clydesdale Entertainment a couple of years ago, and he’s been trying to build slowly with a few successes under his belt.
For the Ice Cube show, Pangli says he’s spending thousands on security to make sure it’s as safe an environment as it can be, and he’s got a staff of 30 to 50 on call.
The reason why he’s bringing Ice Cube to Chilliwack instead of Abbotsford where he was originally booked, had to do with his equally busy filming schedule coming into conflict with the Abby date. The rapper is on-set filming the big screen version of the TV cop show Jump Street.
Ice Cube’s birth name was O’Shea Jackson before he legally changed it to Ice Cube, and he’s a recording artist known for ‘Gangsta Gangsta’ and ‘Express Yourself.’
Ice Cube got noticed as a member of C.I.A. and then in the 90s with his controversial and influential band N.W.A, before going solo and continuing to work on his searing, political lyrics and menacing scowl. He’s also an actor, screenwriter, producer and director in film and television. He owns his own record label and production company.
Meanwhile back in the valley, Pangli went to work filling out the paper work and having advance meetings to find a way to make a Chilliwack performance by the rap artist feasible.
“Why not keep it in the valley I thought, where local businesses can benefit, as well?”
Other hip hop, R&B and country acts may be coming down the pipe as long as this concert production is a roaring success. He hopes the community will come out in droves for a Tuesday night rap show in the old Ag-Rec building, with a capacity for 1,500.
Positive feedback has been pouring in from the Facebook page (search ‘Ice Cube Live in Concert!’) and Twitter especially from his target audience: the 15-to-35 demographic.
Pangli is shooting for the moon.
“This show is a real experiment,” Pangli says. “We need to see if there’s interest for future reference, and with community support we can go even bigger next time.”
