Description

O'Shea Jackson (born June 15, 1969), better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper, actor, screenwriter, film director, and producer. He began his career as a member of C.I.A and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer, director, actor and producer in cinema. In 2010, he embarked upon a television production career with the TBS series Are We There Yet. He married Kimberly Woodruff in 1992, with whom he has four children (three boys, one girl). From the 2000s onwards, Jackson focused on acting, and his musical output has slowed down considerably. O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson was born on June 15, 1969 in South Central Los Angeles, California, the son of Doris Jackson (née Benjamin), a hospital clerk and custodian, and Hosea Jackson, who worked as a groundskeeper at UCLA. His cousins are Teren Delvon Jones, also known as Del tha Funkee Homosapien, who is a part of the rap group Hieroglyphics and is best known for his work with Gorillaz; and Kam of rap group The Warzone. At age sixteen, Jackson developed an interest in hip hop music, and began writing raps in Taft High School's keyboarding class. He attended the Phoenix Institute of Technology in the fall of 1987, and studied Architectural Drafting. With friend Sir Jinx, Jackson formed the C.I.A., and they performed at parties hosted by Dr. Dre. In 1987, Jackson and Dr. Dre released the single My Posse, under the alias CIA. After the collaboration, Jackson showed Eazy-E the lyrics to "Boyz-n-the-Hood". Eazy-E, although initially rejecting the lyrics, eventually recorded the song for N.W.A. and the Posse, the debut album for the group N.W.A that included him, Dre, and other rappers MC Ren and DJ Yella. By this point Jackson was a full-time member of N.W.A along with Dr. Dre and MC Ren. Jackson wrote Dr. Dre and Eazy-E's rhymes for the group's landmark album, Straight Outta Compton, released in 1988. However, as 1990 approached, Jackson found himself at odds with the group's manager, Jerry Heller, after Heller responded to the group's financial questions by drafting up a new arrangement. As he explains in his book: "Heller gave me this contract, and I said I wanted a lawyer to see it. He almost fell out of his chair. I guess he figured, how this young muthafucker turn down all this money? [$75,000] Everybody else signed. I told them I wanted to make sure my shit was right first." Since Jackson wrote the lyrics to approximately half of both Straight Outta Compton, and Eazy-E's solo album, Eazy-Duz-It, he was advised of the amounts he was truly owed by Heller, and proceeded to take legal action, soon after leaving the group and the label. In response, the remaining N.W.A members attacked him on the EP 100 Miles and Runnin', as well as their next and final album, Efil4zaggin (Niggaz4life spelled backwards). Solo career In late 1989, Jackson recorded his debut solo album in Los Angeles with the Bomb Squad (Public Enemy's production team). AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was released in May 1990 and was an instant hit, riding and contributing to the rising tide of rap's popularity in mainstream society. The album was charged with controversy, and he was accused of misogyny, and racism. Subsequently, Jackson appointed the female rapper Yo-Yo (who appeared on AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted) to the head of his own record label and helped produce her debut album, Make Way for the Motherlode. This was followed by a critically acclaimed role as 'Doughboy' in John Singleton's hood-based drama, Boyz n the Hood. In the same year as AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, Jackson released the acclaimed EP, Kill At Will which sold well, becoming the first hip hop EP to go both Gold and Platinum. His 1991 follow-up, Death Certificate was regarded as more focused, yet even more controversial, and critics accused him again of being anti-white, misogynist, and antisemitic. The album is thematically divided into the 'Death Side' ("a vision of where we are today") and the 'Life Side' ("a vision of where we need to go"). It features "No Vaseline", a scathing response to N.W.A's attacks and "Black Korea," a track regarded by some as prophetic of the L.A. riots, but also interpreted as racist by many; it was still being cited years after its release. Jackson toured with Lollapalooza in 1992, which widened his fan base. Jackson released The Predator in November 1992, which had been recorded amidst the LA riots of 1992. Referring specifically to the riots, in the first single, "Wicked", he rapped "April 29 was power to the people and we might just see a sequel". The Predator debuted at number one on both the pop and R&B charts, the first album in history to do so. Singles from The Predator included "It Was a Good Day" and the "Check Yo Self" remix, and the songs had a two part music video. The album remains his most successful release, with over three million copies sold in the US. However, after The Predator, Ice Cube's rap audience slowly began to diminish. Lethal Injection which was released in the end of 1993 and represented Jackson's first attempt at imitating the G-Funk sound of Dr. Dre's The Chronic, was not well received by critics. He had more successful hits from Lethal Injection, including "Really Doe", "Bop Gun (One Nation)", "You Know How We Do It" & "What Can I Do?". After 1994, he took a hiatus from music and concentrated on film work and developing the careers of other rap musicians, Mack 10, Mr. Short Khop, Kausion, and Da Lench Mob. In 1995, Jackson had reunited with former N.W.A member Dr. Dre, who was now part of Death Row Records, in their duet "Natural Born Killaz". In 1998, he released his long-awaited solo album, War & Peace Volume 1. The delayed second part, War & Peace Volume 2, was released in 2000. The albums featured appearances from Westside Connection as well as a reunion with fellow N.W.A members, Dr. Dre and MC Ren, though many fans maintained that the two albums were not on par with his past work, especially the second volume. In 2000, Jackson also joined Dr. Dre, Eminem & Snoop Dogg on the Up In Smoke Tour. In 2006, Jackson released his seventh solo album, Laugh Now, Cry Later, on his Da Lench Mob Records label, debuting at number four on the Billboard Charts and selling 144,000 units in the first week. The album featured production from Lil Jon and Scott Storch, who produced the lead single "Why We Thugs". He released his eighth studio album, Raw Footage, on August 19, 2008. It features the controversial single "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It". On Oct 12, 2009 he released a non album track called 'Raider Nation' in tribute to the Oakland Raiders' football team he supports. On May 11, 2010, Jackson released a 30 for 30 documentary, Straight Outta L.A., for ESPN on the relationship between the gangster rap scene in Los Angeles and the tenure of the Raiders there.

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