Ice Cube

(Oshea Jackson), rapper, songwriter, and actor;b. Los Angeles, June 15, 1964. Ice Cube initially gained fame as a member of the group N.W.A. (Niggas with Attitude) and as a solo artist, and then as a film actor.

Ice Cube began rapping in the ninth grade, soon meeting a local deejay named Dr. Dre. The duo produced a parody of the popular rap song Roxanne, Roxanne that was a local hit in 1984. They next wrote Boyz 'n the Hood, a song reflecting life in the ghettos of Compton, California, which was recorded by another rapper friend, Eazy E. The trio then joined with deejay Yella to form N.W.A., but Cube left the group for a while to attend school in Phoenix, Arizona, not returning until 1988.

Ice Cube recorded two albums with N.W.A., the second being 1991's classic Straight outta Compton, most of which he wrote, which was a huge bestseller. That same year, he released his first solo album, Death Certificate, and gave a critically well-received performance in John Singleton's first feature film, Boyz 'n the Hood. His 1992 album, The Predator, was the first rap album to debut at No. 1 on both Billboard's pop and R&B album charts. He followed it a year later with another bestseller, Lethal Injection. In 1994 he coproduced, cowrote, and starred in the film Friday, a comedy about life in Los Angeles that received mixed reviews.