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:For other uses see Ice cube (disambiguation). Ice Cube (born O'Shea Jackson on June 15, 1969 in Los Angeles, California) is an American rapper, actor and film director. He began his career as a founding member of the controversial and famous rap group N.W.A. and later launched a successful solo career in music and cinema. He converted to Islam in 1992. In more recent years, Cube has focused more on acting, and is spending less time rapping. He is one of the most well-known West Coast rappers, having helped originate gangsta rap. He is particularly well-known for angry raps on political and racial topics (such as the treatment of blacks in the United States). He is also one of the richest people in the hip hop industry with an estimated net worth of $145 million.
Early years Ice cube was raised in South Central Los Angeles by his parents, who were employed at UCLA. At 16, he developed a huge interest in hip hop music and began writing raps while attending school at William Howard Taft High School. *. Attended the University of Arizona in the fall of 1987. Cube and a friend, Sir Jinx, rapped as a partnership called C.I.A. at parties hosted by then-DJ and World Class Wreckin Cru member Dr. Dre. He and Dre eventually made a mixtape called My Posse, which was released in 1987, with Cube rapping and Dre producing. * After a brief stint in a group called HBO, Cube showed his friend, a then-drug dealer named Eazy-E, a song Cube had written called Boyz-N-The-Hood. Cube wanted Eazy to perform the song; initially, Eazy refused, as he had no intent to become a rapper. Eventually, however, he caved and recorded the song, which wound up on the album N.W.A. and the Posse--the first release from the new group Cube had joined, N.W.A. Ice Cube went on to write rhymes for himself and his N.W.A. groupmates, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E, who also were written for by The D.O.C. and (to a lesser extent) MC Ren. Cube and Ren were also very visible as group members. In the early '90's, Cube found himself at loggerheads with Eazy-E and his manager Jerry Heller and left the group. In response, the remaining group members dissed him on the EP 100 Miles and Runnin Solo career
Collaborations & film work
Westside Connection During this time, hip hop started making a transition from the West Coast funk hip hop back to the East Coast. His group Westside Connection released their debut album Bow Down in 1996, with the eponymous single reaching With Bow Down, Westside Connection brought their own agenda to the hip hop scene. Ice Cube, Mack 10, and WC were tired of being overlooked by most East Coast media outlets; the album was designed to instill a sense of pride in West Coast rap fans and to start a larger movement that anyone who felt underappreciated might identify with. Songs like "Bow Down" and "Gangstas Make the World Go 'Round" make reference to this. After a seven-year hiatus, Westside Connection returned with their second effort Terrorist Threats in 2003. The album fared well critically, but its commercial reception was weak compared to that of Bow Down. "Gangsta Nation" was the only single released from the album, which featured Nate Dogg and managed to become a radio hit. After arguments between Cube and Mack 10 about Cube's decision to advance as an actor rather than tour for the Terrorist Threats album, Westside Connection disbanded. WC, however is still friends with Ice Cube and is planning a new solo album on Ice Cube's Lench Mob Records entitled Guilty by Affiliation in late 2006. Recent years In late 2005, Ice Cube and Emmy Award winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler teamed up to create the six-part documentary series titled "Black. White.", which was broadcast on cable network FX. Cube's upcoming movie projects include "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," which is scheduled to be released in 2007, "The Extractors" and "Teacher of the Year" which is to be released in 2006. Cube will be heading to Vancouver in June to start production on "Are We Done Yet?" the sequel to 2005's "Are We There Yet?" * On June 6, 2006 Cube released his long awaited comeback album entitled Laugh Now, Cry Later from his own record company Lench Mob Records. The album featured production from Lil Jon and Scott Storch, and it was well embraced by fans for a debut at Ice Cube has been working with Lil Eazy on his debut album due in 2006, entitled Prince of Compton; for his next role, he signed on to star in and produce Welcome Back, Kotter, a big screen adaptation of the '70s television series. * Ice Cube will play the title character, who was originally portrayed by Gabe Kaplan. Ice Cube’s company, Cube Vision Productions, has made a deal with Dimension Films to bring the show to the big screen. In May 2006 Ice Cube accused Oprah Winfrey of not letting him on her show because he is a rapper.** In an interview in London, he is in talks with a hip hop collaboration with Gorillaz after speaking to frontman Damon Albarn. *, he will be featured on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's The Bone Thugs Story. Conflicts and rivalries Ice Cube would later have a falling out with Kam due to money and personal issues, which led to Kam releasing the venomous diss track "Whoop Whoop," as well as an altercation that led to the theft of Ice Cube's Westside Connection necklace. Though they did end the feud, they never worked together again. Cube also had problems with Chicago MC Common, over the rapper's 1994 single "I Used to Love H.E.R." On the song, Common made reference to the West Coast and mentioned the "Boyz N the Hood," the first movie Ice Cube had appeared in. He and his Westside Connection cohorts, Mack 10 and WC, recorded the Common diss "Westside Slaughterhouse" as their first track together. Common responded with "The Bitch in Yoo," and afterward Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam called the two to a sit-down to negotiate a truce. L.A. group Cypress Hill also feuded with Ice Cube when Ice Cube had taken raps from two separate songs from soundtrack Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom, which Ice Cube had used in his movie Friday. Cypress Hill subsequentley released a diss track, "No Rest For the Wicked", Ice Cube and the Westside Connection retaliated with "King of the Hill," & " Cross Em Out & Put a K" in which Cypress Hill responded with "Ice Cube Killa". The dispute almost boiled to the point of racial violence between Latin-American and African-American groups after B Real and Ice Cube had begun to diss each other in public. But that feud has now ended and Ice Cube has even collaborated with B Real along with Snoop Dogg in his song Get U Down. Technique Ice Cube's rap technique is often straightforward, without the use of many similes. He is known for the social commentary in his songs, and implies that he just reports things how he sees them, though some critics accuse him of racism for anti-white lyrics such as "caveman" and "devil." His style differed from his N.W.A. days as well, deviating from simple violence or bragging and delving into narratives and political hip hop like several popular East Coast acts of the time. His work would later inspire artists such as Nas to voice one's aspects and views on society. Ice Cube is known for the use of irony, as in his hit "It Was a Good Day;" he details a day that was good because nobody was shot or sent to jail, using this as a commentary on life in the ghetto (where people are often shot or sent to jail). He also became a well-known battle MC, going for his opponents' credibility, and pioneered the tactic of dissing a rival over their own beat (this was later used by Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel, among others). His first album, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, deals with straightforward topics such as poverty, racism and drug abuse in the ghetto; in order for the listener to more easily relate, Cube illustrated points with rapped stories. This was one of the main influences in the early work of both Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. Death Certificate was somewhat angrier and very controversial, which led Ice Cube into trouble when some states banned it for derisive remarks to whites and east-asians; he also comments on the hypocrisy of some leaders in the USA and says of Uncle Sam, "I wanna kill Sam 'cause he ain't my motherfuckin' uncle." His subsequent albums have been slightly less outraged in their approach, such as War & Peace vol. 2: The Peace Disk, which focuses on ways to remedy issues such as poverty and violence. However in his later albums, he has collaborated with white artists such as KoRn. By 2006 for his newest album Laugh Now, Cry Later he updates the situation on society, he speaks out against George W. Bush claiming he is no better than Saddam Hussein making note of the Iraqi War. Film award history Ice Cube has been nominated for many films in the past. He has only won two awards as of yet.
Music awards Solo albums With Stereo Crew With C.I.A. (group)|C.I.A. With the Get The Fist Movement With Da Lench Mob With N.W.A. With Westside Connection Singles Actor Director/Producer filmography See Also | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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