O'Shea Jackson (born June 15, 1969 in South Central Los Angeles, California), better known as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, actor, producer and film director known for being a member of the controversial rap group N.W.A. In recent years, his acting career has overshadowed his music. He released his solo debut album, "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted," in 1990 to critical and commercial success, although upon its release he was accused of racism and misogyny. He has since released 1991's "Death Certificate", 1992's "The Predator", 1993's "Lethal Injection", 1998's "War & Peace Vol 1 (The War Disc)", 2000's "War & Peace Vol 2 (The Peace Disc)", 2006's "Laugh Now, Cry Later", 2008's "Raw Footage", and 2010's "I Am the West." Ice Cube was raised in South Central by his parents, both of whom were employed at UCLA. ...show more

O'Shea Jackson (born June 15, 1969 in South Central Los Angeles, California), better known as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, actor, producer and film director known for being a member of the controversial rap group N.W.A. In recent years, his acting career has overshadowed his music. He released his solo debut album, "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted," in 1990 to critical and commercial success, although upon its release he was accused of racism and misogyny. He has since released 1991's "Death Certificate", 1992's "The Predator", 1993's "Lethal Injection", 1998's "War & Peace Vol 1 (The War Disc)", 2000's "War & Peace Vol 2 (The Peace Disc)", 2006's "Laugh Now, Cry Later", 2008's "Raw Footage", and 2010's "I Am the West." Ice Cube was raised in South Central by his parents, both of whom were employed at UCLA.

He began writing raps while attending William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, most notably "Boyz 'N Tha Hood", which later became famous when done by N.W.A in 1986. 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, DJ Yella, The Arabian Prince 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. ...show less