Ice Cube Biography

Ice Cube was born O’Shea Jackson in 1969 in Los Angeles, California. As a young teen, Ice Cube developed an interest in rap and hip-hop music, and began writing music while he was still in high school. He studied architectural drafting at the college level. However, the formation of the group the C.I.A. in the early 1980’s, alongside Sir Jinx, led Ice Cube to working with Dr. Dre and eventually solidified his ultimate career path as a rapper, producer, and eventually, film star.

By the late 1980’s, Dr. Dre had recognized Ice Cube’s talents and joined forces with him to create N.W. A., alongside MC Ren and DJ Yella. The album N.W.A. and the Posse became their breakthrough, although the follow-up, Straight Outta Compton, was far more successful upon its release in 1988. Legal disputes eventually led to Ice Cube’s departure from N.W.A., and by 1989, he’d launched a full-fledged solo career with the debut album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted. The album was an instant smash, despite its controversial content, and set the course for a stellar career that would prove highly influential in the genre of rap. Since his debut, Ice Cub has gone on to release a series of hit albums, including: Death Certificate (1991), The Predator (1992), Lethal Injection (1993), War & Peace Vol. 1 (1998), War & Peace Vol. 2 (2000), Laugh Now, Cry Later (2006), Raw Footage (2008), and I am the West (2010.) In addition, he has two album projects with Westside Connection, which he formed alongside Mack 10 and WC: Bow Down (1996) and Terrorist Threats (2003.) Aside from his own music, Ice Cube has collaborated on a number of albums with other artists, including: Da Lench Mob (Guerillas in tha Mist, 1992); Del the Funkee Homosapien (I Wish My Brother George Was Here, 1992); Tupac Shakur (Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z, 1993); David Bowie and Trent Reznor (“I’m Afraid of Americans”); Korn (on the song “Children of the Korn” and the subsequent Family Values Tour in 1998); Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz (“Roll Call,” in 2004); and Tech N9ne (“Blackboy,” 2008.) 

Alongside his accomplishments in music, Ice Cub began a successful film career with his first appearance in Boyz n the Hood in 1992, in the role of Doughboy. The role was followed with appearances in: Trespass (19920, CB4 (1993), The Glass Shield (1994), Higher Learning (1995), Dangerous Ground (1997), Anaconda (1997), The Players Club (1998), Three Kings (1999), Next Friday (2000), Ghosts of Mars (2001), All about the Benjamins (2002), BarberShop (1997), Friday after Next (1997), Are We There Yet? (2005), XXX: State of the Union (2005), Are We Done Yet? (2007), First Sunday (2008), Rampart (2011), and 21 Jump Street (2012.) He has also produced a number of notable films, including the documentary film series Black. White. (2005) and the documentary Straight Outta L.A., released in 2010, focusing on the relationship between the Los Angeles Raiders and the gangsta rap scene. Ice Cub has a number of film projects on the horizon for the coming years, both in front of and behind the camera.

Overall, Ice Cube is considered to be among gangsta rap’s most notable and talented storytellers and composers, despite his brutally honest and oftentimes violent lyrics. MTV ranks Ice Cube among the 10 Greatest MC’s of All Time, The Source, and Allmusic and about.com both give him similar rankings.