Pride Beastie's List: artist bio

• Born: 15 June 1969

  Birthplace: Los Angeles, California

  Best known as:

  Rap's NWA co-founder
• Name at birth: O'Shea Jackson
• successful
• went from being an innovative and controversial rapper to being a movie star famous for
• 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.
• album Straight Outta Compton (1989) is considered one of the most influential rap recordings in history,
• Lethal Injection (1993) and War & Peace, vols. 1 and 2 (1998-2000).
• Amerikka's Most Wanted (1990)
• 1991 movie Boyz N the Hood (
• albums
• albums
• Laugh Now,
• Cry Later (2006) and Raw Footage (2008)
• Anaconda (1997,
• hree Kings (1999
• Ghosts of Mars (2001); Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004); Are We There Yet? (2005) and xXx: State of the Union (2005,
• Bow Down (1996)
• recorded with Mack 10 and WC as the group Westside Connection,
• Terrorist Threat (2003).

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•   Ice Cube w
• inal Californian rap group
• as the first member of the se
• Ice Cube was the first member of the seminal Californian rap group
• N.W.A. to leave
• (born O'Shea Jackson)
• With his partner Sir Jinx, Cube began rapping
• in a duo called CIA
• Eazy de
• cided to leave CIA, and he, Cube, and Dre formed the first
• left to study architectural drafting at Phoenix, AZ,
• incarnation of N.W.A.
• obtained a one-year degree.
• in 1987
• N.W.A.'s breakthrough album, Straight Outta
• Compton. Released late in 1988
• extreme lyrical content --
• was over-the-top both lyrically and politically -- attracted criticism, most notably from the FBI.
• conflicts with their management,
• resulting in him leaving the band in late 1989.
• ecorded his first solo album with Public
• new posse, da Lench Mob,
• Enemy's production team, the Bomb Squad. Released in the spring of 1990, his debut AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
• going gold within its
• first two weeks of release.
• female protégée, Yo-Yo
• end of 1990, he released the EP Kill at
• Will,
• That summer, his acting debut in John Singleton's acclaimed urban drama Boyz 'n the Hood
• second album, Death Certificate.
• Released late in 1991,
• converted to the Nation of Islam during 1992
• The Predator
• The Predator
• became the
• 1992,
• first album to debut at number one on both the pop and R&B charts.
• "It Was a Good Day" and the Das EFX collaboration "Check Yo Self" made the album Cube's most popular.
• 1993's Lethal Injection
• debuted at number five and went platinum,
• 1994, he wrote and produced da Lench Mob's debut Guerillas in tha Mist, and produced Kam's debut, Neva Again,
• In 1995
• appearing in Singleton's film Higher Learning and making amends with Dre on their duet "Natural Born Killaz.
• Friday, which he wrote himself.
• comedy
• formed Westside Connection with Mack 10 and WC, releasing their debut album, Bow Down,
• starred in
• 1997,
• Anaconda. War & Peace, Vol. 1 (The War Disc) followed in 1998; its sequel, The Peace Disc, followed two years later.
• film. Three Kings, Ghosts of Mars, and the big hit Barbershop all appeared in theaters before the rapper returned to music with Westside Connection's sophomore effort, Terrorist Threats, which appeared in 2003.
• solo comeback album, Laugh Now, Cry Later

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