Ice Cube

O'Shea Jackson (born June 15, 1969), better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, and filmmaker. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined N.W.A (Niggaz Wit Attitudes). After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music and films. Additionally, he has served as one of the producers of the Showtime television series Barbershop and the TBS series Are We There Yet?, both of which are based upon the films in which he portrayed the main character.
Ice Cube is noted as a proficient lyricist and storyteller and is regarded as a brutally honest rapper; his lyrics are often political or socio-political, as well as violent and aggressive, and he is considered one of the founding artists in gangsta rap. He was ranked #8 on MTV's list of the 10 Greatest MCs of All Time, while fellow rapper Snoop Dogg ranked Ice Cube as the greatest MC of all time. AllMusic has called him one of hip-hop's best and most controversial artists, as well as "one of rap's greatest storytellers". In 2012, The Source ranked him #14 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time.
==Film and television career==
Following his role as 'Doughboy' in Boyz n the Hood, in 1992 he starred alongside Ice-T, and Bill Paxton in Walter Hill's action film, Trespass, and then in The Glass Shield.
Ice Cube was offered a co-star role with Janet Jackson for the 1993 romantic film Poetic Justice, but he refused to play the role, which was given to Tupac Shakur instead.
John Singleton had encouraged Ice Cube to try his best at screenwriting, telling him, "If you can write a record, you can write a movie." With this encouragement, Ice Cube wrote the screenplay for what became the 1995 comedy Friday, in which he also starred, alongside then up-and-coming comedian Chris Tucker. Friday earned $28 million worldwide on a $3.5 million budget, and spawned two sequels, Next Friday and Friday After Next. (On March 9, 2011 he announced that he was making the final sequel called Last Friday.) That year, he also starred in his second collaboration with John Singleton, Higher Learning, as world-weary university student "Fudge"; a role for which he earned award nominations.
In 1997, Ice Cube starred in the action thriller Dangerous Ground as a South African exiled to America who returns 15 years later. He also had a supporting role in the film Anaconda that same year. He wrote, executive produced, and made his directorial debut in The Players Club in 1998. and in 1999 starred alongside George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg in the critically acclaimed Three Kings. In 2000, he wrote, produced and appeared in the Friday sequel Next Friday. In 2002, Ice Cube starred in the commercially successful movie Barbershop, as well as All About the Benjamins and the third film in the Friday trilogy, Friday After Next (which he again wrote and produced). In 2004, he appeared in Barbershop 2: Back in Business, and Torque; in 2005 he starred in the action movie XXX: State of the Union, as well as the family comedies Are We There Yet? and Are We Done Yet?, co-starring Nia Long.
In early April 2007, Ice Cube was a guest on Angie Martinez' Hot97 radio show and stated that he was interested in bringing back Chris Tucker as Smokey in a possible Friday sequel, but that was only possible "if New Line cuts the cheque." In an interview with BlackFilm.com, Ice Cube stated that he would be interested in involving all major characters from the Friday franchise in a possible sequel, but added "I know I'm not going to get Chris [Tucker] back, but I'd love to get everybody else back." As of December 2011, Chris Tucker has agreed to be in "Last Friday".
In the Movies is a compilation album of Ice Cube songs that have appeared in movie soundtracks, which was released on September 4, 2007.
Ice Cube and basketball star LeBron James have paired up to pitch a one-hour special to ABC based on James' life. Ice Cube's Are We There Yet? television series premiered on TBS on June 2, 2010. Based on the 2003 feature film of the same name, the show revolves around a family adjusting to the matriarch's new husband (Terry Crews) and trying to deal with normal family situations. On August 16, 2010, Are We There Yet? was renewed for 90 additional episodes. In an August 2010 interview with UrbLife.com, Ice Cube expressed excitement about the show being picked up for the run, which will pan out to around six seasons. He also credits Tyler Perry for opening the door for him at TBS. He also had a role in 21 Jump Street and in its sequel 22 Jump Street. In 2014 he appeared with Elmo as a guest on PBS children's show Sesame Street.
====Films====
Year	Title 	Role 	Other notes
1991	Boyz n the Hood 	Darin "Doughboy" Baker 	Main Role
1992	Trespass 	Savon 	Main Role
1993	CB4 	Himself 	Cameo
1994	The Glass Shield 	Teddy Woods 	Main Role
1995	Higher Learning 	Fudge 	Main Role
1995	Friday 	Craig Jones 	Main Role
1997	Dangerous Ground 	Vusi Madlazi 	Main Role
1997	Anaconda 	Danny Rich 	Main Role
1998	The Players Club 	Reggie 	Minor Role
1998	I Got the Hook Up 	Gun Runner 	Minor Role
1999	Three Kings 	Sgt. Chief Elgin 	Main Role
1999	Thicker Than Water 	Slink 	Supporting Role
2000	Next Friday 	Craig Jones 	Main Role
2001	Ghosts of Mars 	James 'Desolation' Williams	Main Role
2002	All About The Benjamins 	Bucum 	Main Role
2002	BarberShop 	Calvin Palmer 	Main Role
2002	Friday After Next 	Craig Jones 	Main Role
2004	Torque 	Trey Wallace 	Main Role
2004	BarberShop 2: Back in Business	Calvin Palmer 	Main Role
2005	Are We There Yet? 	Nick Persons 	Main Role
2005	XXX: State of the Union 	Darius Stone 	Main Role
2007	Are We Done Yet? 	Nick Persons 	Main Role
2008	First Sunday 	Durell Washington 	Main Role
2008	The Longshots 	Curtis Plummer 	Main Role
2009	Janky Promoters 	Russell Redds 	Main Role
2010	Lottery Ticket 	Jerome "Thump" Washington 	Supporting Role
2011	Rampart 	Kyle Timkins 	Supporting Role
2012	21 Jump Street 	Capt. Dickson 	Supporting Role
2014	Ride Along 	Detective James Payton 	Lead Role
2014	22 Jump Street 	Capt. Dickson 	Supporting Role
2014	The Book of Life 	The Candle Maker 	Voice role
2016	Ride Along 2 	Detective James Payton 	Lead Role
2016	Barbershop 3 	Calvin Palmer 	Filming/Lead Role
2016	Last Friday 	Craig Jones 	In Development
Category:1969 births
Category:African-American film directors
Category:African-American film producers
Category:African-American male actors
Category:African-American male rappers
Category:American film actors
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:Film directors from California
Category:Living people
Category:Male actors from California
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:20th-century American male actors