Sign in or register
for additional privileges

Asian Migration and Global Cities

Anne Cong-Huyen, Jonathan Young Banfill, Katherine Herrera, Samantha Ching, Natalie Yip, Thania Lucero, Randy Mai, Candice Lau, Authors

You appear to be using an older verion of Internet Explorer. For the best experience please upgrade your IE version or switch to a another web browser.

L.A. Songs: It Was a Good Day


Today, January 20th, is the 22nd anniversary of one of songs that most represented L.A. to me when I was growing up, Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day". It tells the story of a day when everything goes right for the narrator, in contrast to the more common tales of violence prevalent in the genre, for instance in the songs of the group that Ice Cube came from, N.W.A. I remember hearing it on the radio, kicking off with the looped sample from The Isley Brother's "Footsteps in the Dark", and it representing the space of a city that I had never imagined in that way. 

The "date" of January 20th for the song taking place was arrived at by Donovan Strain, who analyzed the lyrics to figure out the only date that the events of the song could happen--when pagers existed, the weather in L.A. was clear, and the Lakers beat the Supersonics. Today, January 20th, 2014, Ice Cube flew in the Goodyear Blimp that was mentioned in the song, over South L.A. as part of a fundraiser


Comment on this page
 

Discussion of "L.A. Songs: It Was a Good Day"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Previous page on path L.A. Songs, page 4 of 5 Next page on path

Related:  Beijing Subway VisualizationFahaisiWudaokouTsinghuaRound the clock giddinessVirtual Dubai: Spec Ops: The LineLine I: Orientations & PlacesHow The Her Filmmakers Created A Utopian Los Angeles Of The Not-Too-Distant FutureMulholland DrivePinguoyuanWelcome to the Northern CapitalBeijing SimulacraLos Angeles: Reading the CityBeijing: Reading the City (Culture)Beijing Film南锣鼓巷GTA V UCLANorth Korean RestaurantTimeout BeijingBeijing DoorsL.A. Songs: HappySanlitunAppendix: Towards a Reading of Los AngelesBeijing: PastLong Live Shougang SteelLine 13: Experiencing MigrationsChinatown - TrailerL.A. Songs: Sunshine, Santa Monica, and Sheryl CrowBeijing to SeattleBeijing: BookwormBeijing PhotosBeijing: Chang'an JieBeijing SkylineDiscover LAWhat's Beef? Featurette - Jesse Proudfoot on Mike Davis' "City of Quartz"Beijing: YonghegongL.A. Songs: Funtimes in BabylonBeijing: First Ring RoadBeijing: Recycling VillageLos Angeles: Light and Dark720 RapidBeijing: Reading the City (Official Texts)Mulholland Drive VantageSkylinesAmerica's Next Great City: Downtown L.A.Beijing TourismLos Angeles: FuturesWangjing: Korean MigrationBeijing: A Global City?L.A. Songs: Desperados Under the EavesMigrant Children in the RubbleTian'anmenThis Is What Los Angeles Could Look Like in 2033Expat MigrationCity Lights in a Highway HeartbeatLittle Tokyo in Los AngelesRural to Urban MigrationFuturistic LA SubwayLos AngelesBeyond the Black DahliaThe City of Angels and the Beverly Hills ChihuahuaBeijing LiteratureBlade RunnerDTLAYoudu 幽都798Beijing: FuturesBlade Runner - Opening SceneCNN: How Los Angeles may look in the futureBeijing SkyEducational MigrantsBeijing: Asian Migrants and LaborersBeijingDay on Broadway eventBeijing MonumentsBeijing Music SceneChinatown - 1974Beijing: GulouFuturistic Los Angeles SubwayHer - Official Trailer (HD) Joaquin Phoenix, Amy AdamsHappyBeijing Death CloudSeeing Foreign Bands in BeijingBeijing GhostsTaijian BowuguanHistory Channel City Of The Future: Los Angeles 2106