From his rapping days in the N.W.A, to international movie star, to his son playing him in a biopic, Ice Cube is a name we all recognise.
Before the hype surrounding N.W.A (Niggaz Wit Attitude) began, Ice Cube, real name O'Shea Jackson, started off his rapping career in the group C.I.A.
Along with K-Dee and Sir Jinx, Cube performed at parties organised by Dr Dre, who was a member of a popular local hip-hop group called World Class Wreckin' Cru at the time.
Together with Dre, Jackson went on to form Niggaz Wit' Attitude, the pioneering gangster rap group.
Because of his work in N.W.A, Ice Cube rarely features outside the top 50 in any rankings to do with rapping and MCing. His honest, political, violent, and aggressive lyrics springboarded him into a group with the most esteemed musicians.
Growing up, Ice Cube was one of two siblings. However, tragically, his half-sister was killed when he was only 12.
The Los Angeles neighbourhood that Cube lived in became increasingly shaped by drugs, guns and violence during his upbringing. Despite this, he had a solid set of parents behind him, inspiring him to be a dedicated student at school.
After selling his first rap song to future N.W.A member Eazy-E at the age of 16, he decided to head off to the Phoenix Institute of Technology in Arizona to study architecture. As he'd seen a lot of his friends get killed or go to jail, Cube had become determined to create a better life for himself.
He graduated from Phoenix Institute of Technology within a year, but returned to his home of Los Angeles to pursue a rap career.
Come 1986 his rap career seemed to be in full flow, going on to release N.W.A. and the Posse, N.W.A's first album, in 1987.
The group's landmark album, Straight Outta Compton, was released a year later.
Around this time, N.W.A was seen as a majorly controversial group. It glorified drug and weapon use, was disrespectful to women and had a burning hatred for police.
They were subsequently banned from many mainstream radio stations, but that didn't stop them selling over 10 million records.
Credit: PA
Over a year later, in December 1989, Ice Cube made the decision to leave the group over royalty disputes. After settling the dispute out of court with band manager Jerry Helle, Cube released his first solo album, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, in 1990.
Throughout the rest of his musical career he had many collaborations with artists such as Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, David Bowie, and Lil John, as well as forming the group Westside Connection.
Parallel to his musical ventures, the 47-year-old has also had a rather successful career in film.
Starting in 1991, he played the role of 'Doughboy' in Boyz n the Hood, before starring in Trespass, and then in The Glass Shield.
Three of Cube's most loved films, the Friday Trilogy, were all written by himself. Friday, a 'stoner' film, earned $28 million worldwide, before gaining two sequels, Next Friday and Friday After Next, to complete the trilogy.
Other roles that have been lapped up by audiences are Chief Elgin in Three Kings (starring alongside George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg), Nick Persons in Are We There Yet, Darius Stone in the xXx films, Capt. Dickson in 21 & 22 Jump Street, and Detective James Payton in Ride Along 1 & 2.
The other valuable asset in Cube's life is his facial expression. He has the same one for every occasion, and it never, ever changes.
Most recently, a cast including Ice Cube's son, O'Shea Jackson Jr, was assembled to create the award-winning film Straight Outta Compton.
The film was a biopic of the N.W.A, showing the group's run ins with police and its meteoric rise to fame.
Happy birthday, Ice Cube!
Words by Mark McGowan
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Ice Cube