Hat tip to profhoff for sending this along, from Huffington:

Ice Cube proves to be an apt guide on modern architecture in this Pacific Standard Time video about the Eames architect legends.

He reveals a little known fact about himself: before he became a rapper, he studied architectural drafting. Perhaps that’s why he so eloquently discusses the Eames and their revolutionary contribution to modern architecture. Strolling around the Eames House in Pacific Palisades, he lovingly strokes the windows of the home and later exclaims, “they was doing mash-ups before mash-ups even existed.”

In an interview with the New York Times, Ice Cube said he jumped at the chance to be a part of Pacific Standard Time’s sprawling campaign to promote Southern California art. “What was appealing was showing off Los Angeles to people who think they know what Los Angeles is all about… Everybody who comes here thinks they got the place figured out, but you can never get this place figured out.”

Driving down Inglewood Boulevard in South LA, the rapper also breaks down “the good, the bad and the ugly” about art and architecture in Los Angeles. Things that make his good list: the Forum, 5 Torches, Cockatoo Inn and Watts Towers.

For Ice Cube, the worst thing about LA is the worst thing on everyone’s list: traffic. The 405 is filled with “bougie traffic.” The 110 is “gangsta traffic.” “There’s a difference!” he insists. “You gotta know where you at.”

Ice Cube’s video is the third in a series of artist/performer collaborations for Pacific Standard Time. Check out actor Jason Schwartzman celebrating artist John Balderssari and Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis taking artist Ed Ruscha for a ride.

Watch Ice Cube pay homage to the Eames Home and then check out this Trazzler slideshow of Southern California’s most iconic architecture.