Ice Cube

Released: June 6, 2006

Songwriter: Ice Cube

Producer: Ice Cube

[William Shatner - Host of Rescue 911]
Blacks who ventured across the unmarked border were often attacked
By teenage members of the new gang called The Spook Hunters
One of a handful of white gangs active in this time
It was only natural for L.A.'s newest residents to respond unkind

[Unknown]
As white attacks started to increase in the mid 1940's and late 1940's
Blacks started to organize their clubs really as a defensive mechanism
And the boss men or the business men and the Snyder boys and all these
Clubs in south L.A. really were just sorta defending themselves against
White violence that was coming from Huntington Park and Southgate

[William Shatner]
The demise of the black panthers in Los Angeles is said to be another
Blow to a generation of black teenagers that witnessed many of its role models
Assasinated throughout the 1960's

[Ice Cube] spoken
What I'm sayin in so many words, they shoulda let the panthers
Went on because there probably would never have been no crips and no bloods

Straight outta South Central Los Angeles, Ice Cube became one of the most respected rappers in hip-hop, helping to usher in the era of gangsta rap with N.W.A and as a solo artist. He has gone on to become a mogul in Hollywood but still remains true to the game that brought him his success.

Born O'Shea Jackson on June 15, 1969, Ice Cube got his name from his older brother, who threatened to put him in a freezer and pull him out when he was an ice cube. He began rapping in high school and started his rap career as a member of Stereo Crew, which released the single “She’s a Skag” through Epic Records in 1986, and C.I.A. with the 1987 track “My Posse.” Both groups featured producer Sir Jinx, the cousin of DJ/producer Dr. Dre.

Ice Cube’s big break came when he wrote the song “Boyz n the Hood” for Eazy-E, which led to the formation of N.W.A. as a group. After the release of the 1987 compilation N.W.A. and the Posse, the group released their classic debut Straight Outta Compton in 1988. A financial dispute caused Cube to leave the group in 1989 and start his successful solo career, starting with his 1990 platinum debut Amerikkka’s Most Wanted.

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