Everybody plays the fool sometime, even Cuba Gooding. On the heels of his new solo album, Begin With The Family, being released this week, he concedes that despite wealth or fame, the most important thing in his life is family.  "Tupac Shakur always knew that, and that's why he recorded "Dear Mama," he comments.  Gooding adds, "I think my generation let the hiphop kids down, and there are certain things we should have given them and taught them, but we didn't." Gooding says that a part of the frustration that hiphop music expresses reveals such failures, as well, at times. "It is my opinion that it is our responsibility for our three generations to mesh our music together, so that we can all be prepared for the political onslaught that is criminally dividing us as a nation, as a people, and as members of the human race. My prayer is that Begin With The Family will jump start this process."

The intergenerational musical praise has gone both ways, as conversely, Shakur had stated that Gooding's group, The Main Ingredient, was highly influential to him.  In the MTV-produced film about his life, The Resurrection, a list is shown that was handwritten by Shakur of what he stated was "music that is the soundtrack of my life," and The Main Ingredient was Tupac's number 2 choice, just under Frank Sinatra, preceding Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley and other artists.

Gooding’s vocals have been sampled by hiphop a rtists that include the five-time Grammy Award winner, Alicia Keys, on her smash single, “You Don’t Know My Name,” which, early in 2004, held the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hiphop Singles & Tracks Chart for nine straight weeks. That Cuba's popularity throughout the years continues into the hiphop generation is obvious. In addition to Alicia Keys, he has also been sampled by a slew of artists, including Jay-Z, Cam'Ron, Notorious B.I.G., Da Lench Mob and the Fugees, to name a few.

Gooding continues his rich musical legacy with his new album, ensuring new fans coming into the fold. Gooding elaborates, "Tupac understood the importance of family, that it is the root of who we are. We must continue to spread this message through our music."