Ice Cube

• Born: June 15, 1969
• Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California

ACTOR AND RAPPER

A pioneer of gangsta rap with the seminal group N.W.A. and later as a solo performer, Ice Cube later became a popular actor in film and television. He also worked as a screenwriter, producer, and director.

Early Life

Ice Cube was born O’Shea Jackson in Los Angeles, California, to Hosea and Doris Jackson, on June 15, 1969. Known in his neighborhood as an athletic and confident child, he was given the nickname “Ice Cube” by his older brother for his bravado and penchant for courting girls much older than him. Ice Cube was introduced to hip-hop via the song “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang, which is often credited as the first rap song ever recorded. This introduction served as the catalyst for his role in pioneering the subgenre of hip-hop known as “gangsta rap.”

As a student at Los Angeles’s William H. Taft High School, Ice Cube began writing rhymes and partnered with friends K-Dee and Tony Wheatrob (also known as Sir Jinx), the cousin of hip-hop artist André "Dr. Dre" Young, to form the rap group C.I.A. (Cru’ in Action!). C.I.A. found a niche writing and performing parody rhymes at various events in Los Angeles’s South Central neighborhood. As Ice Cube’s reputation as a lyricist grew, so did his desire to pursue rapping as a serious profession. After being tapped to write “Boyz-n-the-Hood” in 1987 for Eric “Eazy-E” Wright, Ice Cube formed the group N.W.A. (Niggaz wit Attitudes) with Eazy-E and Dr. Dre.

Cube graduated from high school in 1987 and enrolled in the Phoenix Institute of Technology in Arizona, where he earned a diploma in architectural design. He returned to Los Angeles to record N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton (1989), which included the controversial “F—— tha Police,” a song that earned the group a letter of warning from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Straight Outta Compton became an instant success, both lauded and denounced for its violent and misogynistic lyrics. Ice Cube had writing credits on about half of the album’s tracks.

As N.W.A.’s popularity grew, its members began to disagree over money. Feeling undercompensated for his role in the success of Straight Outta Compton and Eazy-E’s solo album, Eazy-Duz-It (1988), Ice Cube left N.W.A. in 1990.

Life’s Work

Ice Cube worked with East Coast producers the Bomb Squad (who also produced the work of Public Enemy) to record his solo debut, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990). Buoyed by Ice Cube’s fame as a member of N.W.A. and proven lyrical skills, the album went platinum. Ice Cube went on to record four more critically acclaimed and controversial albums between 1990 and 1993—the extended-play album Kill at Will (1991), Death Certificate (1991), The Predator (1992), and Lethal Injection (1993). These albums included several of his best known songs, including “It Was a Good Day,” which chronicles the rapper’s ideal day in South Central Los Angeles—sex, drugs, winning at dice and basketball, and driving through the streets undisturbed by the police. In 1992, Ice Cube married Kimberley Woodruff, with whom he has four children.

Based on the success of AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted and Kill at Will, as well as his reputation as a chronicler of gritty urban life through his rhymes, Ice Cube was cast in the role of Doughboy in the 1991 film Boyz N the Hood (whose title was taken from the Ice Cube-written song). The film, written and directed by John Singleton, follows a group of young men coming of age in crime-ridden South Central Los Angeles; Doughboy is a high school dropout and gangster who ultimately realizes the tragic pointlessness of the violence he perpetuates. Ice Cube was heralded for his performance in the critically acclaimed film.

While Doughboy long remained his signature role, Ice Cube went on to act in numerous films, some of which he also produced. These films include Higher Learning (1995), Friday (1995), Three Kings (1997), Barbershop (2002), Are We There Yet? (2005), The Longshots (2008), Lottery Ticket (2010), Ride Along (2014), and Fist Fight (2017). He received screenwriting credit on Friday and its two sequels; The Players Club (1998), which he also directed; and All About the Benjamins (2002). Many of these films featured his songs on their soundtracks as well.

Ice Cube also returned to music in the late 1990s and 2000s, releasing several solo albums and recording with the group Westside Connection during hip-hop’s infamous East Coast–West Coast feud. However, none of these albums matched the popularity of his earlier work, and Ice Cube became better known for his roles in family-friendly comedy films in the late 2000s. In 2015 a biopic titled Straight Outta Compton was released, chronicling the making of that album and the history of N.W.A. The film received widespread critical acclaim, earning more than $200 million and an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The following year, in 2016, N.W.A. was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ice Cube returned to music, releasing an album with the rap supergroup, Mt. Westmore, in 2022. Ice Cube continued his work in films as well, starring in 2020’s The High Note and providing voice-over work to 2023’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

In 2024, he toured Canada and the United States, with a number of sold-out dates. During the same year, he was the inaugural recipient of the Naismith Hall of Fame Ice Cube Impact Award, given by the Basketball Hall of Fame to honor people who have used basketball to make a significant contribution to society. In addition to receiving the first award, Ice Cube will chair the committee that chooses future honorees.

In 2024, it was also announced that his eleventh album, Man Down, was waiting for contracts to be resolved before its release. Ice Cube was quoted as saying the album was a call for men to stand up and overcome the cultural talk of toxic masculinity.

Significance

Ice Cube brought the plight of inner-city America to the forefront of American consciousness through his music. N.W.A. played a major role in the development of rap, which went from party and dance music to a provocative and controversial forum for documenting the violence and poverty of urban Black communities. Ice Cube’s first solo album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, has been praised as one of the most important hip-hop albums of all time. Despite growing up in one of the nation’s poorest and most violent communities, Ice Cube built a successful career as a rapper, actor, and filmmaker. His work helped initiate public discourse on the issues facing African Americans.

Bibliography

"Biopic 'Straight Outta Compton' Tells the Epic Story of Hip-Hop and N.W.A." NPR, 14 Aug. 2015, www.npr.org/2015/08/14/432146089/biopic-straight-outta-compton-tells-the-epic-story-of-hip-hop-and-n-w-a. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.

George, Nelson. Hip-Hop America. New York: Penguin, 2005. Discusses the role of hip-hop in American society.

Hamilton, Toby G. Ice Cube. Broomall, Pa.: Mason Crest, 2008.

Ice Cube, 2024, icecube.com/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.

"Ice Cube." IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm0001084/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.

Kedem, Maia. "Ice Cube on his upcoming album and why it's time for men to 'stand back up'." Audacy, 13 Sept. 2024, www.audacy.com/national/music/ice-cube-on-his-upcoming-album-man-down. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.

Light, Alan, ed. The Vibe History of Hip-Hop. Plexus, 1999.

McIver, Joel. Ice Cube: Attitude. Sanctuary, 2002.

Quinn, Eithne. Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang: The Culture and Commerce of Gangsta Rap. Columbia University Press, 2004.

Smale, B., and M. Sager. “Cube.” Rolling Stone 588 (October 4, 1990): 78.

Yates, Shanique. “Ice Cube Will Return to the Big Screen in New Multi-Picture Production Deal.” Revolt TV, 13 May 2022, www.revolt.tv/article/2022-05-13/168776/ice-cube-signs-multi-picture-production-deal/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.

Woldu, Gail Hilson. The Words and Music of Ice Cube. Praeger, 2008.