O'Shea Jackson, more popularly known by his stage name, Ice Cube, was born on June 15, 1969, in Los Angeles, California, in the South Central area. He is a son to father Hosea Jackson, a groundskeeper at UCLA and mother Doris, a hospital clerk and custodian. He has an elder brother as well as a half-sister who was killed when Ice Cube was twelve years old. Ice Cube developed an interest in music and began writing raps in his early teens at George Washington Preparatory High School's Los Angeles keyboarding class. He received a degree in architectural drafting at the Phoenix Institute of Technology in 1987. .
Ice Cube is a hip-hop artist, producer, actor, and filmmaker. At the beginning of his career, he was a part of the rap group, C.I.A. Later, he joined a gangster hip-hop group named N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude). After leaving N.W.A in 1989, Ice Cube developed a successful career as a solo artist and in film. Ice Cube became famous for his aggressive and brutally honest lyricism during his career. His lyrics were widely seen as political, socio-political, and violent, which helped him achieve the mantle as being one of the founding artists of gangsta rap. .
During Ice Cube's lifetime, an event occurred that was very closely heeded by N.W.A. The Los Angeles riots, which are also known as the Rodney King riots, happened in 1992. They were a large series of disturbances, rioting, larceny, and arson that originated in South Central Los Angeles and later spread into other areas over a six-day period. The riots started on April 29 after a jury acquitted four LAPD officers for beating and using excessive force on Rodney King, following a high-speed chase. Some people regard N.W.A's track "Black Korea" as prophetic of the Los Angeles riots while also seen as a racist track by many. Ice Cube released a third album in November 1992, titling it "The Predator". In his album, he directly referred to the Los Angeles riots and used his lyrics to signify power to the people and promotion of equality.
