Ice Cube (person)

O'Shea Jackson, better known as Ice Cube, was born on June 15, 1969, in Crenshaw, South Central Los Angeles, California, and grew up in a middle-class home. Having, for the most part, a stable childhood, with both his parents working at UCLA, Ice Cube entered the "homeboy lifestyle" in the ninth grade. A classmate named Kiddo challenged Ice Cube to a rap contest in typing class. "One day, he asked me if I ever wrote a rap before. I told him, you write one, I write one and we'll see which one comes out better and I won."

At age 16, in early 1987, Ice Cube wrote his first important rap, "Boyz-N-The-Hood," which was later recorded by Eazy-E. Ice Cube had then gone to study architecture in Phoenix, Arizona, and upon returning to L.A., he spent some time with CIA, his rap crew, who were produced by Dr. Dre. He also wrote "8 Ball" and "Dopeman" for the N.W.A., and released a few 12-inches with the CIA (including the hit, "My Posse"). He also worked with the World Class Wreckin' Cru before joining the N.W.A. just in time for the groups breakthrough album, Straight Outta Compton (1989).

Although N.W.A. had been doing well, Ice Cube felt that he was being treated unfairly by the group's management (Eazy-E and Jerry Heller). Ice Cube felt he should have received much more than the $30,000 he received for records that had sold over three million copies. Ice Cube quit the group in 1989 and commented, "I was broke before I jumped on that shit, so it wasn't hard to walk away. At the time the two producers that was worth fucking with was Dr. Dre and The Bomb Squad. If I couldn't get Dre, I was going to the Bomb Squad."

As a result, Ice Cube moved to New York and began collaborating with Public Enemy's Bomb Squad. Ice Cube formed a backing group called Da Lench Mob, and with the help of Chuck D, released his solo debut album, Amerikkka's Most Wanted in 1990. The album, just as vulgar as any album done by N.W.A., earned critical praise for its style and production and went gold in just one week. Ice Cube, riding on his fame, produced an album for female rapper Yo-Yo, and appeared in John Singleton's 1991 hit movie, Boyz N The Hood.

Ice Cube then followed-up with Kill At Will (1991) which went gold just as quickly as Amerikkka's Most Wanted, and featured tracks such as "Jackin' For Beats" and "Dead Homies." That same year, Ice Cube released Death Certificate, which had an advance order of over a million copies. It debuted at number two on the Billboard Charts, and went platinum despite its anti-Semitic remarks on "No Vaseline" and calling for Blacks to attack Korean-Americans on "Black Korea." The album, released just months before the L.A. riots, captured the tenor of the times, and the feeling of the generation.

The following year, Ice Cube appeared on the Lollapalooza tour, and created an even larger fanbase. His 1992 release, The Predator was an even bigger hit, debuting at number one on the Pop and R&B charts, and went platinum in just four days. The Predator included the hit "It Was A Good Day," which gave him an even bigger following, thanks to MTV.

In 1993, Ice Cube released his fourth album in four years, Lethal Injection. It mentioned the problems of the ghetto, including the Los Angeles riots and the Rodney King beating. The album was surely an advancement from his previous records, and demonstrated the influence of Ice Cube's recent conversion to the Nation of Islam. The album included a cover version of "One Nation Under A Groove," retitled as "Bop Gun (One Nation)" with lead vocals done by George Clinton. At this time, Ice Cube, like rapper Ice-T, was targeted on right wing assassination lists founded by the police in 1993.

After this album, Ice Cube felt that the rap game was changing. He felt no one wanted to hear "that kind of rap" anymore, and the "G-funk era was coming in. People didn't want to take rap that serious." Therefore, he decided to concentrate on his commercial interests, instead. After his amazing performance in John Singleton's Boyz N The Hood, Ice Cube was in demand. He was making music, directing music videos, discovering new talent, and making movies all at the same time. He produced and remixed albums for artists such as K-Dee and Anotha Level, starred in The Glass Shield, Trespass with Ice-T, Anaconda, 3 Kings, CB4, and John Singleton's Higher Learning. Ice Cube then co-wrote the comedy Friday in 1995, with DJ Pooh, a movie about a day in the life in South Central Los Angeles.

In 1993, following the release of his Lethal Injection Ice Cube had formed the group, Westside Connection, with fellow rappers WC and Mack 10. In 1996, he returned to the rap game, by recording Bow Down with his group. Although the album did not receive much critical success, it did help revive Ice Cube's commercial successes, by breaking into the US Top 5 shortly after its release.

Two years later, in 1998, Ice Cube released his first solo album in over five years, War & Peace, Volume 1 (The War Disc). He then made his debut as a director in the 1998 movie, The Players Club which was a Top 10 Hit in the USA, and went on to gross $20 million after only six weeks. But most successful, was his 2000 film, Next Friday which topped the Box Office charts in its first week of release. That same year, he released War & Peace, Volume 2 (The Peace Disc).

Ice Cube is a rare form of an artist which is very hard to find nowadays. He is one who, besides rapping, directs music videos, is always looking for new talent, and is an acclaimed actor, screenwriter, director and producer. "I still sell the same amount of records. I still get a big reception. In hip hop, people always want new artists, but when I really get down, nobody put a record together better than me. So I'm a always be here. Long as I stay consistent and keep my heart in it, I'm a be here."