Iconic rap star Ice Cube is throwing a show at the Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam Friday, Oct. 4.
Ice Cube rose to fame in the early late 1980s as a member of West Coast rap group N.W.A. Along the way he wrote some of the group’s most memorable lyrics including Straight Outta Compton, the first song on N.W.A.’s debut album of the same name. The album would later go triple platinum, selling over 3 million copies.
In bringing gangsta rap into the mainstream, N.W.A. — and often the lyrics of Ice Cube — stirred up its share of controversy just as it spotlighted the struggles of growing up black in 1980s South Los Angeles. As one critic put it on the 20th anniversary of the album:
“Straight Outta Compton compelled the mainstream audience to see the hostile, underprivileged side to American living. N.W.A. did have an influential message. However, unlike Public Enemy’s rational Fight the Power ethos, these teenagers were angrily brazen about sticking up a middle finger while possibly waving a AK47 in the other hand, in their pursuit of free speech.”
Ice Cube left N.W.A at the height of his career, striking out on his own and producing a series of popular albums such as Amerikkka’s Most Wanted and the two-part album War & Peace.
Ice Cube has also starred in a handful of films, and in 2015, his film production company released the N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton. The film did well at the box office, winning over many critics and audiences, and grossing $201 million worldwide.
In 2016, Ice Cube was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of N.W.A., and in 2017, he got his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Tickets for Ice Cube’s Oct. 4 show go on sale Friday, Aug. 2, and can be purchased here. You must be 18 or older to attend.
