Ice Cube, the rapper, began his career as a full-time member of N.W.A back in 1987, alongside Dr. Dre, MC Ren, Eazy-E, and DJ Yella. Cube penned all of Dr. Dre's & Eazy-E's lyrics, as well as his own, for N.W.A.'s epic LP, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, which was released in 1988. Ice Cube was hailed a hero, but just one year later found himself in a dispute with Jerry Heller, N.W.A.'s manager, after Cube refused to sign Heller's proposed contract. Ice Cube wrote almost half the rhymes to N.W.A.'s STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, as well as Eazy-E's solo LP, Eazy-Duz-It, and knew exactly how much money he was worthy of. Ice Cube felt slighted by Heller's lousy offer, so he left the group & sued the record label to get what he felt he was owed. N.W.A.;s remaining members responded by releasing a slew of scathing dis records aimed at Cube on their LP 100 Miles & Runnin', and their final album, NIGGAZ4LIFE.
No longer a member of the super-group, N.W.A., Ice Cube was on his own. Not really though, in 1989 he recorded his debut solo album Amerikkka's Most Wanted, in New York, with Public Enemy's production team, the Bomb Squad. When the LP was released in 1990 it was an instant hit, but was charged with controversy. Ice Cube was publicly indicted for being a misogynist & a racist. Amerikkka's Most Wanted was followed by Cube's critically acclaimed performance as Doughboy in John Singleton's ultra-violent but epic movie, BOYZ N THE HOOD. Ice Cube then released KILL AT WILL, which went on to become the first hip-hop EP to go platinum.
Ice Cube, the actor/filmmaker's career has proved to be just as, if not more, successful than his music career. Following his role as 'Doughboy' Ice Cube was offered to star alongside Janet Jackson in the film Poetic Justice. But he refused to play the role. Poetic Justice just wasn't a part of his plan to change the game.
"If you can write a record, you can write a movie." With those words of encouragement from John Singleton, Ice Cube wrote the 1995 comedy FRIDAY, starring himself alongside up-and-coming comedian Chris Tucker. FRIDAY went on to earn $28 million worldwide, and made way for two sequels, NEXT FRIDAY & THE FRIDAY AFTER NEXT.
Ice Cube's accomplishments does not stop there, he starred in Higher Learning, Anaconda with Jennifer Lopez, the critically acclaimed Three Kings with George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. He also wrote, executive produced and made his directorial debut in the PLAYERS CLUB, and that is just to name a select few.
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON is where we began, and I think it is where we should end. In March of 2009 New Line Cinema announced that they were developing the film, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, with Ice Cube & Dr. Dre as two of the producers. Names like John Singleton, Peter Berg, and F. Gary Gray were pitched to direct the film. Ultimately, F. Gary Gray was given the job to direct this movie.
"I don't know of any other movie where you can mix gangster rap, the F.B.I., L.A. riots & HIV with each other." Ice Cube stated about the movie. In the mid-part of 2014, Universal Pictures announced that STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON would be released the summer of 2015. It was also noted that Ice Cube's son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., would play a younger version of Ice Cube in the movie.
On August 5, 2014, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON began filming, but not even one week in, a drive-by shooting took place in front of the cast & crew members while on set in Compton, California. In spite of the on-set violence, the show had to go on, and filming continued.
In the early parts of 2015, Universal Pictures released the first official trailer for the N.W.A biopic STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON. Mark your calendars because this coming August you will be able to see that Ice Cube & Co. has done it again.
Written By:Larrima Davis
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