by Kam Williams
Chilling with Ice
O’Shea Jackson was born on June 15, 1969, and adopted the cool alias “Ice Cube” before founding N.W.A. in the late 1980s. As the lyrical mastermind behind the legendary group’s Straight Outta Compton album, he literally launched the gangster rap revolution. And his subsequent solo material, including such early Nineties classic CDs as AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted and Death Certificate, solidified his place in the pantheon of the genre’s more socially-aware artists.