Ice Cube
Ice Cube
O'Shea Jackson Sr., known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, record producer and filmmaker. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the seminal rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music and films. Additionally, he has served as one of the producers of the Showtime television series Barbershop and the TBS series Are We There Yet?, both...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRapper
Date of Birth15 June 1969
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
I've been around a lot longer than most rappers stay around. So I don't feel like, I haven't made too many career mistakes.
I was trying to be the best rapper in the world. I wasn't thinking about acting.
Don't want to hear my favorite rapper doin' a love song. If I want to hear something soft, I'll throw on Luther Vandross.
For me rappers and dancers are poets and artists and often times the most interesting performances are given by them.
Well, for the transition from rapper to actor, I was fortunate that director John Singleton pursued me for about two years to be in Boyz 'N the Hood. I really wasn't even thinking about acting at the time, since I was singularly focused on being the best rapper in the world. So, that was really a blessing, because I wasn't really taking him seriously.
To see it as a game is dope. You know they've got all these other games, and they finally gave a little respect to one of the classic movies in American history.
What I wanted people to recognize is that racism is in all of us, in layers. Some in more layers than others. It's not just the Klan guy and the black-fist guy, and it's about peeling away those layers.
Black. White' will force people to challenge themselves.
We wanted to be true to what a barbershop is, so every headline we could grab between the first 'Barbershop' and the second was in there,
I thought it was a good opportunity to perform on TV and get the message out there.
I think the worst thing you can do about a situation is nothing. You have to get it out in the open. You have to talk about it.
I remember wishing there was snow in L.A. And how jealous we used to get of those Christmas specials with kids playing in the snow.
When I was in N.W.A. and didn't get paid all the money I was owed, that's when the business side of showbiz hit me.
South Central is just who I am. Even though I have a nice house, nice family, the rest of my generation is still in South Central L.A. My cousins, my brothers, my sisters, they don't wanna move out.