Ice Cube: From A Boy N Tha Hood to Hollywood

Jun 15, 2021 02:00PM ● By Kassidy Garland

Ice Cube was born O’Shea Jackson in South Central Los Angeles on June 15, 1969. Jackson has one older brother, but unfortunately, his half-sister was murdered when he was just 12 years old, as the area that Ice Cube grew up in became overrun with drugs and gun violence.

His parents eventually made the decision to take him out of his school and move him to a suburban school, giving him a completely different perspective. In his teen years, Ice Cube began rapping, and, eventually joined the Compton-based group N.W.A. (Niggaz Wit Attitude). The group became one of the most influential groups of all time, in part, to their explicit lyrics.

The group was met with significant criticism for the way it talked about women, drugs, and violence. Despite being banned from many radio stations for their lyrics and content, they grew in popularity. The group, which consisted of Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Arabian Prince, DJ Yella, and MC Ren, were noted for pioneering the subgenre of gangsta rap.

Straight Outta Compton, which was released in 1988, became one of their most iconic albums because of the titular track and “Fuck Tha Police”. Both songs gave a very raw perspective of the inner-city youth, as well as police brutality. Their music today still rings true almost 30 years later, as inner-city youth is often ignored, underfunded, and stereotyped, and police brutality still runs rampant.

Ice Cube eventually left the group in 1989 after a dispute over royalties, as Ice Cube wrote many of the group’s songs, but felt he was not being properly compensated. After leaving N.W.A, he began a successful solo career and started acting. He has appeared in a number of roles in movies like Boyz N The Hood, the Barbershop films, 21 Jump Street, Ride Along, and Fist Fight. He did work as a producer, a director, and a screenwriter for a number of his films. The movie, Straight Outta Compton, tells the story of N.W.A. H, and his son, O’Shea Jackson, Jr. played the role of Ice Cube.

Ice Cube has multiple upcoming projects and lives very differently from how he grew up, but he states, "I keep the fire in me," he said. "You gotta be able to survive in whatever environment you find yourself in. The 'hood means everything to me. You never know when you could wind up back there."

Sources:

Britannica

Biography

Kassidy Garland has had a great appreciation for reading and writing since she was young. She graduated from West Chester University in 2017 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English & Women and Gender Studies. With a concentration in creative writing, Kassidy has 5 years of experience writing blogs, articles, and for social media. Kassidy is also pursuing a Master’s degree in IT with a concentration in Web Development. Based out of Philadelphia, Kassidy loves to write about a number of topics and looks forward to sharing her passion with those at FunTimes Magazine.