(AllHipHop News) Rapper, actor, and film producer Ice Cube recently sat down with radio personality Angie Martinez. During the interview, the star of Ride Along 2 spoke about another West Coast Hip Hop representative – Kendrick Lamar.

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Martinez informed her guest that Kendrick referred to Cube’s iconic rap group N.W.A. as “the gatekeepers.” Cube replied by offering high praise to the Grammy winning emcee.

“That’s a cool name. I feel that,” said Cube about K. Dot’s description. “And Kendrick is a new gatekeeper. He’s keeping the tradition alive.”

The conversation then shifted to the lack of Oscar nominations for the blockbuster N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. Many observers were critical of the Academy for snubbing the movie in the Best Picture category as well as all of the acting categories. Cube was asked if refusing to play the “Hollywood game” affected Straight Outta Compton not receiving more recognition from the film industry.

“I do what I’m supposed to do to promote the project. I ain’t gonna kiss no ass for nothing,” stated Cube. “Maybe that is the problem, or maybe we should have put a slave in Straight Outta Compton. I think that’s where we messed up.”

Cube was touching on another area of criticism often aimed at the Academy Awards. Many of the recent Oscar-winning films and acting performances were only awarded for African-Americans playing slaves, servants, or deeply flawed characters.

12 Years a Slave won Best Picture in 2013, and Lupita Nyong’o won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for playing a slave in the Steve McQueen directed motion picture. Other recent winners in that category include Octavia Spencer as a maid in The Help (2011) and Mo’Nique as an abusive mother in Precious (2009). The respective writers of Precious (Geoffrey Fletcher) and 12 Years a Slave (John Ridley) are the only African-Americans to win an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

“It’s both,” answered Cube when asked if he felt being ignored by the Oscars was about race or the lack of respect for Hip Hop. “The thing about it is that does not define us. That award is cool – it’s cool to be recognized – but people recognized this movie back in August when it did $200 million at the box office.”