Ice Cube

O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), better known as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer.

Ice Cube was born O'Shea Jackson in Los Angeles on June 15, 1969, the son of hospital clerk and custodian Doris and machinist and UCLA groundskeeper Hosea Jackson.

He has an older brother, and they had a half-sister who was murdered when Cube was 12.

He is the cousin of fellow rappers Del tha Funky Homosapien and Kam.

He grew up on Van Wick Street in the Westmont section of South Los Angeles.

In ninth grade at George Washington Preparatory High School in Los Angeles, Cube began writing raps after being challenged by his friend "Kiddo" in typewriting class.

Kiddo lost.

He has said that his stage name came from his older brother, who "threatened to slam [him] into a freezer and pull [him] out when [he] was an ice cube".

Cube also attended William Howard Taft High School in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles.

He was bused 40 miles to the suburban school from his home in a high-crime neighborhood.

Since 1984, Dre was a member of a popular DJ crew, the World Class Wreckin' Cru, which by 1985 was also performing and recording electro rap.

Dre had Cube help write the Wreckin Cru's hit song "Cabbage Patch".

A native of Los Angeles, Ice Cube formed his first rap group called C.I.A. in 1986.

In 1986, at the age of 16, Ice Cube began rapping in the trio C.I.A. but soon joined the newly formed rap group N.W.A.

Dre also joined Cube on a side project, a duo called Stereo Crew, which made a 12-inch record, "She's a Skag", released on Epic Records in 1986.

In 1987, with Eazy-E and Dr. Dre, he formed the gangsta rap group N.W.A. As its lead rapper, he wrote some of Dre's and most of Eazy's lyrics on Straight Outta Compton, a landmark album that shaped West Coast hip hop's early identity and helped differentiate it from East Coast rap.

N.W.A was also known for their violent lyrics, threatening to attack abusive police which stirred controversy.

In the fall of 1987, soon after he wrote and recorded a few locally successful rap songs with N.W.A, he enrolled at the Phoenix Institute of Technology Phoenix, Arizona.

In 1987, C.I.A. released the Dr. Dre-produced single "My Posse".

Meanwhile, the Wreckin' Cru's home base was the Eve After Dark nightclub, about a quarter of a mile outside of the city of Compton in Los Angeles county.

While Dre was on the turntable, Ice Cube would rap, often parodying other artists' songs.

In one instance, Cube's rendition was "My Penis", parodying Run-DMC's "My Adidas".

His lyrics on N.W.A's 1988 album Straight Outta Compton contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popularity, and his political rap solo albums AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), Death Certificate (1991), and The Predator (1992) were all critically and commercially successful.

In 1988, with a diploma in architectural drafting, he returned to Los Angeles and rejoined N.W.A, but kept a career in architecture drafting as a backup plan.

He was N.W.A's lead rapper and main ghostwriter on its official debut album, 1988's Straight Outta Compton.

After a monetary dispute over the group's management by Eazy-E and Jerry Heller, Cube left N.W.A in late 1989, teaming with New York artists and launching a solo rap career.

Ice Cube has also had an active film career since the early 1990s.

Due to a financial dispute, he left the group by the start of 1990.

During 1990, his debut solo album, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, found him also leading a featured rap group, Da Lench Mob.

Meanwhile, he helped develop the rapper Yo Yo.

With friend Sir Jinx, Ice Cube formed the rap group C.I.A., and performed at parties hosted by Dr. Dre.

He entered cinema by playing Doughboy in director John Singleton's feature debut Boyz n the Hood, a 1991 drama named after a 1987 rap song that Ice Cube wrote.

He also co-wrote and starred in the 1995 comedy film Friday, which spawned a successful franchise and reshaped his public image into a bankable movie star.

He made his directorial debut with the 1998 film The Players Club, and also produced and curated the film's accompanying soundtrack.

He was an executive producer of many of these films, as well as of the 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton.

In 2015, the nightclub's co-owner and Wreckin' leader Alonzo Williams would recall feeling his reputation damaged by this and asking it not to be repeated.

At 16, Cube sold his first song to Eric Wright, soon dubbed Eazy-E, who was forming Ruthless Records and the musical team N.W.A, based in Compton, California.

Himself from South Central Los Angeles, Cube would be N.W.A's only core member not born in Compton.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of N.W.A in 2016.

As of 2020, he has appeared in about 40 films, including the 1999 war comedy Three Kings, family comedies like the Barbershop series, and buddy cop comedies 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, and Ride Along.