Ice Cube was a headlining performer on one of the biggest and iconic tours in hip-hop history with 2001’s Up in Smoke Tour. Cube hit the road with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and then rising star Eminem on the 44-day U.S tour accompanied by Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Warren G, and Kurupt.

During an interview with HipHopDx, Cube got the chance to reminisce about the iconic tour with a lineup so legendary, Xzibit called them the “hip-hop Avengers.” As Cube looks back, Eminem was one of the openers on the tour, while reflecting on how iconic the line-up was, Cube chuckles as he explains the story. 

I think just the whole thing, not a standalone memory,” he said in the interview. “That was the first tour that I took my sons on. I’m like, ‘Y’all hanging with me. Y’all ’bout to grow up.’ And you know, I had them rolling with me, and just having the energy of all those humongous groups. I mean, at the time, Eminem was opening up, you know?! Like, after Warren G, Eminem was going on. So that just shows you the level that we were at, that we was on. He could’ve headlined.”

He added, “It’s just with the best teams. You talk about the [U.S. Olympic] Dream Team or the ’90s Bulls, the ’80s Lakers, Shaq, and Kobe… it’s up there. You know you’re at a point where it gets no better than this.”