Music

Ice Cube Talks Being Sued by Mr. Rogers for Sampling Theme Song on "A Gangsta’s Fairytale"

While celebrating the anniversary of 'AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted,' Ice Cube discussed how Mr. Rogers sued him for using his theme song on "A Gangsta’s Fairytale."

ice cube
Image via Getty/Dave J Hogan
Getty

Ice Cube celebrated a milestone this weekend, with his seminal album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted turning 30.

He hosted an Instagram Live listening party on Wednesday to honor the moment, where he also discussed his feud with children’s television personality Mr. Rogers. He sued Cube over the album track “A Gangsta’s Fairytale” because the beginning of the song featured the theme song from Rogers’ show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

"I actually wrote this for Eazy-E. But y’all know what it is, we weren’t getting down at the time so I had to take it myself,” Cube said. “It’s a trip. Because of this song, Mr. Rogers sued us."

Cube continued, "He was mad 'cause we had the 'Mister Rogers' theme at the beginning of this shit, 'It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood' and all that. [He] sued us and was getting like five cents a record 'til we took that part off. That's just a fun fact."

Cube’s dropped his first solo studio album, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted in 1990 after splitting from N.W.A.

He first opened up about his lawsuit with Rogers in an interview with author Brian Coleman for his book, Check The Technique Vol. 2.

"We had that 'It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood' thing in the beginning of the original," Cube said at the time "Did Mister Rogers sue us? Damn. Actually, yeah, I remember. He told us we couldn't use it, we took the song off the album, and he sued us anyways. I think they made us give him damages because we mention his name one time."

Related Stories

BIG3 co founder Ice Cube
sports

Ice Cube Says BIG3 Deserves Credit for NBA’s New All-Star Game Rule: 'Where Should I Send My Invoice?’

Since 2017, Ice Cube's BIG3 basketball league has been playing games that are determined by a target score instead of a game clock.

Xavier Hamilton2268 days ago
Dr. Dre
music

Grammys Will Honor Dr. Dre for His Production Work

Dr. Dre will see his legendary production work for some of the biggest artists in the world honored ahead of the 2020 Grammys.

Joe Price2377 days ago
Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole
music

TDE President Addresses Rumored Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole Project (UPDATE)

Fans have been holding their breathe for a potential collaborative album for about a decade.

Joshua Espinoza2176 days ago

Stay ahead on Exclusives

Download the Complex App