Ice Cube is a West Coast legend who has been not only at the forefront of music but also a prominent actor and filmmaker. The emcee (real name O’Shea Jackson) is known for his iconic albums, such as AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted and Death Certificate.
However, before he embarked on a solo career, he was part of the epic gangster rap group N.W.A. alongside Dr Dre, Eazy-E, DJ Yella and MC Ren. As part of the group, he made history and put California on the map.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Ice Cube was the face of LA, and from ‘F**k Da Police’ to ‘It Was A Good Day’, the West Coast rapper was unmatched during his heyday.
However, contrary to the narrative that surrounds N.W.A, Ice Cube didn’t grow up in the same part of Los Angeles as the rest of the group’s members. While figures such as Dr Dre and Eazy-E grew up in Compton, Jackson was raised in Crenshaw. As such, he didn’t grow up alongside Dr Dre.
During an interview with music journalist Touré Neblett for the Fuse YouTube series On The Record, Ice Cube recalled first meeting his former N.W.A counterpart. Opening up about the first meeting, Jackson explained, “I met Dre over at Sir Jinx’s house. Sir Jinx is a producer that we grew up as friends.”
He continued, “We would hang out, he had DJ equipment, he moved over into our hood like when he was in the fifth grade, I was in the sixth grade. His cousin was Dr Dre. [Me and Dre] were pretty much fans until I started rapping, he started DJing and then one-day Dre came over.”
After Dr Dre began DJing as part of the World Class Wreckin’ Cru, he gained a lot of buzz in the city. Speaking about this, Jackson added, “I remember meeting him, he was already the man in LA. I lived about four houses down from Jinx. So I grabbed my notebook we was tryna get him to come see us rap. It was a barbecue, so Dre was eating!”
Jackson concluded by detailing the moment Dr Dre knew they should form a crew, disclosing, “The last thing Dre wanted to do was hear his little cousin’s friends rap, but finally, we caught him we had him come in the backyard; Jinx had his equipment set up in the garage, and he heard me flow and you could see a lightbulb go off in his head like ‘Yep I want other people in the Wreckin Cru to hear you!”
