June 15 In Hip-Hop History: Ice Cube Is Born

Ice Cube has entertained the masses and given back to the culture countless times over the years so it’s only right that we honor him for his birthday.

On June 15, 1969, O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson was born in Los Angeles to Doris and Hosea Jackson. He grew up in South L.A. and began writing rhymes when his was in his freshman year of high school after a friend of his named “Kiddo” challenged him. Jackson got his stage name from his older brother after they got into an argument over the rapper trying to talk to his girlfriends when they would call their home.

“Back in the day, when you had an old refrigerator they would push it to the curb and guys would come by and pick it up,” he explained. “My brother was like ‘that refrigerator down the street, I’m going to take you down there, slam you in the freezer and when they pull you out, you’re going to be an ice cube.”

From that moment on, he would forever be known as ‘Ice Cube.’ He officially got his start in the music industry in the mid 1980’s as one-third of the rap trio Cru In Action! (C.I.A.) with K-Dee and Sir Jinx, who’s Dr. Dre’s cousin. In 1987, Jackson formed N.W.A. with fellow founding members Dre, Eazy-E, and Arabian Prince. He was the lead MC for two of the group’s albums including its debut LP Straight Outta Compton. Due to financial disputes with the group’s manager Jerry Heller, Jackson left the group and started his solo career with the release of AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted in 1990.

The “No Vaseline” rapper went on to drop nine other albums including Death Certificate (1991), The Predator (1992) and his most recent solo album Everythang’s Corrupt (2018). He also joined forces with Snoop Dogg, Too $hort and E-40 to form the supergroup Mount Westmore. A year after his debut album dropped, Ice Cube landed his first major film role in Boyz N Da Hood. Since then, the rapping actor helmed several memorable movie franchises including Friday, Barbershop and Are We There Yet? He’s also starred in other classic films like The Player’s Club, All About The Benjamins, 21 Jump Street and more. He’s set to appear in the new Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles movie when it drops on August 2.

Happy birthday Ice Cube!