"Ice Cube" Chills in Bakersfield

Legendary rapper, actor, screenwriter, producer and mogul, Ice Cube, stopped in Bakersfield to show love to his fans while performing at the Fox theatre. Regarded as one of the greatest hip hop artists of all time by MTV, he began his career as a founding member of N.W. A. and later launched a successful solo career.

Ice Cube was born in South Central Los Angeles. His mother was a hospital clerk and custodian while his dad worked as a groundskeeper at UCLA. Ice Cube developed his love of music at the age of 16 and began writing raps. It was at that time that he began to perform at parties hosted by Dr. Dre. After being a member of the group N.W.A. and some would say the introduction of gansta rap, Ice moved on to a solo rap career. His solo album was released in 1990 when his project was marred by controversial lyrics and rising popularity. His third album included car bumping favorite, “It was a good day” and “Check You Self”.

Some of Ice Cube’s film credits include Boyz n the Hood which became an inner-city favorite. Cube wrote the screenplay for became the 1996 comedy “Friday” in which he also starred, alongside then-upcoming comedian Chris Tucker. “Friday” became a hit, earning $28 million worldwide on a $3.5 million budget. He was also in “Higher Learning”, 1997’s Anaconda, The Players Club and Three Kings with Georg e Clooney and Mark Wahlberg along with a host of other movies.

Ice Cube sat down with Soul before he took the stage at the Fox theatre:

SB: This year marks the 20th anniversary of N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton album – at the time of making that record, what did you hope to accomplish?

Ice Cube: We was just trying to be stars in the neighborhood, we never expected it to blow up. We
were not sure if anyone even knows what we were talking about.

SB: When gansta rap first came out, there was a huge outcry and some musicians, politicians parents
and others hoped that you guys would go away. Did you ever think of quitting?

Ice Cube: Never!!! Never thought about quitting we figured that those people already had their money
and we were owed a chance to get our money. We were not listening to naysayers

SB: You parlayed gansta rap into a multimedia mogul which includes, actor, director, screenwriter
and executive producer, how were you able to accomplish all of that?

Ice Cube: I wasn’t into movies until I met John Singleton and he asked me to do Boyz n the Hood.
That movie was successful and one thing led to another.

SB: Looking back at that movie, you didn’t appear like a “rapper turned actor”, your role was very
believable

Ice Cube: When you think about it, that movie had very highly talented actors such as: Lawrence
Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding, Jr. Morris Chestnut, etc. You had to bring your “A” game and that is what I tried to do.

SB: Are you an opportunist? What motivates you?

Ice Cube: In a lot a ways. What motivates me is a cracked door. If the door is cracked, that’s the
motivation for me to go in.

SB: Any of us with aspirations and goals need to seek successes such as yourself for guidance.
What advice can you give anyone who has the odds stacked against them?

Ice Cube: The odds being stacked against you is part of the territory so you have to welcome that. You
need to have determination. If you have talent, that’s one thing, but determination is what’s going to get
you over the hump and allow you to make it. You have to put the steps together in order to make things
happen but determination goes a long way.