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Biography
Name at birth: O'Shea Jackson
Ice Cube went from being an innovative and controversial rapper to being a movie star famous for the successful franchises that sprouted from the movies Friday (1995) and Barbershop (2002, with Cedric The Entertainer). Ice Cube co-founded the hip-hop group N.W.A. (Niggaz With Attitude) in the late 1980s, along with rapper Eazy-E and producer Dr. Dre. Their 1989 album, Straight Outta Compton, is considered one of the most influential rap recordings in history, and N.W.A.'s brand of "gangsta rap" dominated hip-hop music into the early '90s. Ice Cube's subsequent solo albums have been just as popular, including Amerikka's Most Wanted (1990), Lethal Injection (1993) and War & Peace, vols. 1 and 2 (1998-2000). His performance in the 1991 movie Boyz N the Hood (co-starring Laurence Fishburne) proved he also had the makings of a movie star, and now he's known in films as an actor, writer, producer and director (he has also directed several music videos). His films include: Anaconda (1997, with Jennifer Lopez); Three Kings (1999, starring George Clooney); Ghosts of Mars (2001); Torque (2004); and Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004).
Ice Cube has also recorded with Mack 10 and WC as the group Westside Connection, whose albums include Bow Down (1996) and Terrorist Threat (2003). ~Answers.com.
Born D'Mon Rolison in 1971, Mack 10 perpetually represented Inglewood throughout his career, the Los Angeles neighborhood he called home. His professional rap career began in 1995 when he signed with Priority, the premier label for West Coast rap at the time, and released his self-titled album. The West Coast gangsta movement was peaking around this time, and Mack 10 capitalized on the trend with "Foe Life," a song he wrote with Ice Cube, one of the West Coast's reigning talents. The partnership struck gold, and the song became a coastal anthem, opening the door for a successive single, "On Them Thangs." Mack 10 then partnered with Ice Cube again a year later to form the West Coast supergroup Westside Connection along with another Los Angeles rapper, WC. The three had united for a standout song on Mack 10's debut album, "Westside Slaughterhouse," and hoped to reprise their camaraderie for the Westside Connection album. They certainly did so, recording the boastful lead single "Bow Down," which taunted the East Coast, along with several other songs discussing the East-West tension that dominated rap at the time... ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
A long-time staple of the gangsta rap scene, WC began his career with the groups Low Profile and the Maad Circle before forming Westside Connection with Ice Cube and Mack 10. His solo debut, The Shadiest One, followed in 1998, landing in the pop Top 20 in its first week of release. "Better Days" and "Just Clownin'" were moderate R&B hits, and his second record, 2002's Ghetto Heisman, entered the pop charts as well. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide