Ice Cube
O'Shea Jackson wrote much of the material that made N.W.A infamous, left the group over money, and then made two of the angriest and best-regarded albums in rap history. He has since spent longer as a film-maker than he ever did as a full-time rapper.
Early life and origins in South Central
Jackson grew up in South Central Los Angeles and was writing rhymes as a teenager, briefly studying architectural drafting in Phoenix before returning to the group forming around Eazy-E. He wrote a substantial share of Straight Outta Compton, including much of Eazy's material, which became the flashpoint when the royalties did not match the workload.
Leaving N.W.A
He left in 1989 over the Ruthless contract and went to New York to record with Public Enemy's Bomb Squad. The resulting album, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, paired his West Coast writing with dense East Coast production and proved he did not need the group. N.W.A responded on record, and the exchange escalated into one of rap's most quoted feuds.
Death Certificate and The Predator
Death Certificate in 1991 was more focused and more incendiary, and drew formal condemnation from parts of the music industry. The Predator followed in 1992, recorded around the Los Angeles uprising, and produced "It Was a Good Day", which remains his most widely known song and is almost the only warm record in that stretch of his catalogue.
What Ice Cube is known for musically
Reporting. His best writing is narrative and specific, built on scene and detail rather than boast, and delivered in a hard, clipped voice that lands every syllable. He is one of the few rappers whose lyrics were treated as political statements by people who never listened to rap.
Film and later career
He wrote and starred in Friday, built the Barbershop and Are We There Yet? franchises, and moved into producing. He co-founded the three-on-three BIG3 basketball league, which played its first season in 2017. His son O'Shea Jackson Jr. played him in Straight Outta Compton, which Cube produced.
Album discography
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), Death Certificate (1991), The Predator (1992), Lethal Injection (1993), War & Peace Vol. 1 (1998) and Vol. 2 (2000), Laugh Now, Cry Later (2006), Raw Footage (2008) and Everythang's Corrupt (2018). He also recorded as part of Westside Connection with Mack 10 and WC.
Notable songs
"It Was a Good Day", "Check Yo Self", "No Vaseline" — the N.W.A diss that is regularly cited as the most complete demolition in rap — and "Today Was a Good Day" samples that have kept the record in rotation for thirty years.
Influence and legacy
His first two solo albums are the template for political rap that does not sacrifice aggression, and his writing on Straight Outta Compton shaped a genre. The Hollywood career that followed has been financially far larger than the music, and the two audiences barely overlap.
Frequently asked
Where is Ice Cube from?
Jackson grew up in South Central Los Angeles and was writing rhymes as a teenager, briefly studying architectural drafting in Phoenix before returning to the group forming around Eazy-E.
What happened to Ice Cube?
Death Certificate in 1991 was more focused and more incendiary, and drew formal condemnation from parts of the music industry.
What albums has Ice Cube released?
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), Death Certificate (1991), The Predator (1992), Lethal Injection (1993), War & Peace Vol. 1 (1998) and Vol. 2 (2000), Laugh Now, Cry Later (2006), Raw Footage (2008) and Everythang's Corrupt (2018). He also recorded as part of Westside Connection with Mack 10 and WC.
What is Ice Cube known for musically?
His first two solo albums are the template for political rap that does not sacrifice aggression, and his writing on Straight Outta Compton shaped a genre. The Hollywood career that followed has been financially far larger than the music, and the two audiences barely overlap.