THE FIRM'S CUBE APPEAL

Ice Cube’s Laugh Now, Cry Later, his first solo album in seven years, comes out June 6, which, for all you numerologists out there is 6/6/06, the same release date as the new Omen flick.

The catch is, the entire record was financed by Cube and will be promoted by his management company, The Firm. The album will be released by Cube’s own Lench Mob Records and distributed through a production and distribution deal with Virgin/EMI, which will make both explicit and edited versions available at retail.

“We’re using the independent system as best we can,” says The Firm’s Michael Papale, who, along with CEO Jeff Kwatinetz, is coordinating the effort, which began last October. “The focus in on his solo career as a rapper, an icon, a musician, an artist and a writer.”

Tracks on the album were produced by some of the leading lights in hip-hop, including Scott Storch, Swizz Beatz, Lil Jon and Green Lantern.

The first single, “Why We Thugs,” a collaboration with Storch, was #2 Most Added at Urban, with 33 stations. The video is currently airing on Fuse and BET. The song has reached more than 10 million total listeners with almost 1,100 spins, according to Mediabase.

“Thugs” is just one of five tracks in the marketplace, along with the street cuts “Chrome & Paint,” featuring a video shot at the Low Rider Convention in Las Vegas, and “You Got a Lot of That” (featuring Snoop Dogg) as the B-side. Another single, “Child Support,” was made available on allhiphop.com. There’s also the song “Race Card,” the theme from Cube’s production of the FX series Black & White, a reality series exploring how a person’s race affects the way they’re treated.

The publicity and promotional initiatives include cover stories in Source and Jet, major features in XXL and Vibe and an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel on day of release.

The rapper is currently headlining his first solo tour in six years, which runs through June 3, when a record release party will be held at the House of Blues on Sunset in L.A. While on the road, Cube has been doing a promotional blitz in each city, with press and radio before the shows.

“We didn’t want to go the traditional route,” says Papale. “We wanted to do this in a grass-roots manner, using the Korn model as a foundation.”