For other uses see Ice cube (disambiguation).
Ice Cube (born O'Shay Jackson on June 15, 1969) is an American actor and rapper, originally a member of the controversial group N.W.A until launching a successful solo career in music and cinema. In recent years, Ice Cube's acting career has overshadowed his career in music. He is considered one of the most influential and iconic figures in the hip hop industry.
Ice Cube was raised in South Central Los Angeles, California by his parents, both of whom were employed at UCLA. He began writing raps while attending school at [[William Howard Taft High School (Los Angeles,famous when done by N.W.A. Cube and a friend, Sir Jinx, rapped as a partnership called C.I.A. at parties hosted by Dr. Dre. After a brief stint in a group called "HBO", Cube showed Eazy-E "Boyz 'N Da Hood" and the pair, plus Dr. Dre, and MC Ren formed N.W.A. Cube took one year off to earn a degree in architectural drafting in Phoenix in 1987 but returned in time to participate in N.W.A's debut album, Straight Outta Compton. The album attracted much notoriety for the group, from the FBI and concerned citizen and parent groups. Cube did the lead verse for the album's infamous track " Fuck tha Police."
Ice Cube left N.W.A due to financial and personality conflicts in 1989. With Da Lench Mob and the Bomb Squad ( Public Enemy's producers), Cube recorded his debut album in New York City. AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was released in 1990 and was an instantaneous hit as rap's popularity increased in mainstream society. Some controversy has been stirred about racist lyrics in his material: Black Korea (a song against Korean shopowners) and songs such as Enemy and Cave Bitch (songs against "devils", a popular derogatory term at the time for white people). Partially to help deflect criticisms, Cube appointed a female rapper named Yo-Yo (who guested on AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted) to the head of his own record label and helped produce her debut album, Make Way for the Motherlode. That was followed by a critically acclaimed turn in Boyz N the Hood, a movie by John Singleton.
