N.W.A was an American hip hop group formed in Compton, California. Among the earliest and most significant figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, the group is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential acts in hip hop music.
Lorenzo Jerald Patterson, known professionally as MC Ren, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Compton, California. He is the founder and owner of the independent record label Villain Entertainment.
O'Shea Jackson Sr., known as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1988 album Straight Outta Compton contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popularity, and his political rap solo albums AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), Death Certificate (1991), and The Predator (1992) were all critically and commercially successful. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of N.W.A in 2016.
Eric Lynn Wright, known professionally by the stage name Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred to as the "Godfather of Gangsta Rap".
G-funk, short for gangsta funk, is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that emerged from the West Coast scene in the early 1990s. The genre is heavily influenced by the synthesizer-heavy 1970s funk sound of Parliament-Funkadelic, often incorporated through samples or re-recordings. It is represented by commercially successful albums such as Dr. Dre's The Chronic (1992), Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle (1993), and 2Pac's All Eyez on Me (1996).
Christopher Bellard, also known by his stage name Young Maylay, is an American rapper, record producer and actor based in Los Angeles. He is best known for his portrayal of Carl "CJ" Johnson, the main character of the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
The Hip Hop Honors is an annual event that airs on VH1. The television special honors old school and golden age hip hop rappers and contributors for their long-term influence and importance in the history of hip hop culture. It features live performances by most of the honorees along with new artists who have been influenced by them in tribute. The show is taped at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, New York City.
Laugh Now, Cry Later is the seventh studio album by rapper Ice Cube, released on June 6, 2006. It is Ice Cube's first album to be released on his independently owned record label Lench Mob Records and Universal Records. This album is his first studio album in six years since his previous album, War & Peace Vol. 2 . After spending the previous six years mainly doing movie projects, it could be considered a comeback album.
"You Know How We Do It" is a song by American rapper, actor and filmmaker Ice Cube, released as the second single from his fourth studio album, Lethal Injection (1993). The song was released in 1994 by Lench Mob and Priority, and was a No. 30 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100. Musically, it is in the G-funk genre, and has the same kind of mood and feeling as "It Was a Good Day". The song samples "The Show Is Over" by Evelyn "Champagne" King, "Summer Madness" by Kool & the Gang, and "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson.
Ruthless Records was an American Independent record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California in 1987. All of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1987. Several artists and groups on the label such as N.W.A, Eazy-E, MC Ren, The D.O.C., Michel'le, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony have released RIAA certified albums.
Trespass is a 1992 American crime thriller film directed by Walter Hill, written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, and starring Bill Paxton, Ice T, William Sadler, and Ice Cube. In the film, two firemen decide to search an abandoned building for a hidden treasure, but wind up being targeted by a street gang.
"Natural Born Killaz" is a collaborative single released by Dr. Dre and Ice Cube for the soundtrack of the film Murder Was the Case. It was originally intended for the scrapped album Heltah Skeltah. It would later be used by professional wrestling tag team The Gangstas during their Extreme Championship Wrestling stint before being used by New Jack for the following years. The music video also has a brief appearance from Death Row labelmate 2Pac towards the end of the video.
"Why We Thugs" is the first single on Ice Cube's seventh album Laugh Now, Cry Later. It was released on April 13, 2006 and the music video has a cameo appearance by comedian Mike Epps. The song makes references to George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, Russell Simmons, The Sugarhill Gang and Ice Cube's 1991 big screen debut.
Raw Footage is the eighth studio album by American rapper Ice Cube. It was released on August 19, 2008, by his record label Lench Mob Records and Universal Motown Records. The album features guest appearances from The Game, Butch Cassidy, Musiq Soulchild, Young Jeezy and WC. The album is his most political effort, since over a decade earlier with the release of his album The Predator (1992).
Nicole Fiscella is an American actress and model, best known for her role as Isabel Coates on The CW's teen drama television series Gossip Girl.
The Essentials is second greatest hits album by American rapper Ice Cube. It was released on September 16, 2008 via Priority Records, making it his fifth compilation for the label and overall.
Marcus Raboy is an American film and music video director.
The Friday franchise consists of American stoner buddy-comedies created by Ice Cube and DJ Pooh; including three theatrical films and one animated spin-off TV series. The series takes place in South Central Los Angeles and follows the exploits of perpetually unemployed Craig Jones, who, along with his friends and relatives, is thrust into various issues that happen to occur on a Friday.
O'Shea Jackson Jr. (born February 24, 1991), also known by the stage name OMG, is an American actor, rapper and songwriter. He is the oldest son of Ice Cube and, in his feature film debut, he portrayed his father in the 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton.
The Summer Sixteen Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by Canadian rapper Drake and American rapper Future. It began on July 20, 2016 in Austin, Texas, and concluded with its final show in Toronto, Ontario, on October 8, 2016. With 60 performances across North America, the tour was produced by Apple Music to promote Drake's fourth studio album, Views (2016), Future's fourth studio album Evol (2016), as well as their collaborative mixtape, What a Time to Be Alive (2015). Guest appearances and support acts on the tour's various stops included 2 Chainz, ASAP Ferg, Bun B, Cam'Ron, DJ Khaled, Fat Joe, French Montana, Gucci Mane, Ice Cube, Kanye West, Kash Doll, Rihanna, T.I., Too Short, Ty Dolla $ign, Usher, and Young Thug, among others. The tour earned a gross total of $84.3 million off of 54 shows, making it the highest-grossing hip-hop tour of all time, until Drake broke this record with his own co-headlining Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour in 2018.
