Ice Cube is one of the founding artists of gangsta rap, and much of his musical output has contained harsh socio-political commentary. He was ranked number 8 on MTV's list of the 10 Greatest MCs of All Time, while fellow rapper Snoop Dogg ranked Ice Cube as one of 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 number 14 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. In 2014, About.com ranked him number 11 on their list of the "50 Greatest MCs of All Time"
He released his solo debut album, "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted," in 1990 to critical and commercial success, although upon its release he was accused of racism and misogyny. He has since released 1991's "Death Certificate", 1992's "The Predator", 1993's "Lethal Injection", 1998's "War & Peace Vol 1 (The War Disc)", 2000's "War & Peace Vol 2 (The Peace Disc)", 2006's "Laugh Now, Cry Later", 2008's "Raw Footage", and 2010's "I Am the West."
Ice Cube was raised in South Central by his parents, both of whom were employed at UCLA. He began writing raps while attending George Washington Preparatory High School in Westmont, California, most notably "Boyz 'N Tha Hood", which later became famous when done by N.W.A in 1986. Cube finished his schooling at William Howard Taft Charter High School in Woodland Hills, a predominately white neighborhood in San Fernando Valley, some 40 miles from the high-crime neighborhood where his family stayed.
Cube and a friend, Sir Jinx, rapped as a partnership called C.I.A. at parties hosted by Dr. Dre. After a brief stint in a group called "HBO", Cube showed Eazy-E "Boyz 'N Da Hood," and the pair, plus Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, The Arabian Prince and MC Ren, formed N.W.A.
Cube took one year off to earn a degree in architectural drafting in Phoenix in 1987 but returned in time to participate in N.W.A's debut album, Straight Outta Compton. The album attracted much notoriety for the group, from the FBI and concerned citizen and parent groups. Cube did the lead verse for the album's infamous track "Fuck tha Police."
Ice Cube left N.W.A due to financial and personality conflicts in 1989. With Da Lench Mob and the Bomb Squad (Public Enemy's producers), Cube recorded his debut album in New York City. AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was released in 1990 and was an instantaneous hit as rap's popularity increased in mainstream society.
His 1991 follow-up, Death Certificate, was even more controversial. A few songs in the album featured Cube's hate of Uncle Sam and his politics, and a bonus track named "No Vaseline" was a diss to his former N.W.A bandmates. Also that year, he converted to the Nation of Islam. The album was re-released in 2003 with the bonus track "How to Survive in South Central," originally from the 1991 "Boyz N the Hood" soundtrack.
Controversy stirred about racist lyrics in his material: "Black Korea" (a song against Korean shopowners), referring to a former boss as "white Jew" in "No Vaseline", and songs such as "Enemy and Cave Bitch" (songs against "devils", a popular derogatory term at the time for white people). Partially to help deflect criticisms, Cube appointed a female rapper named Yo-Yo (who guested on AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted) to the head of his own record label and helped produce her debut album, Make Way for the Motherlode.
That was followed by Cube's acting breakout as the grown-up version of Darrin "Doughboy" Baker in the 1991 coming of age crime drama "Boyz in the Hood." Writer and director John Singleton, another LA native, penned the role specifically Cube. Ice Cube was later named "Most Promising Actor" at the 4th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards in 1992, beating out his co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. and newcomer Brad Pitt from "Thelma and Louise."
Cube toured on Lollapalooza in 1992 and widened his fan base. He released The Predator in November (1992) which debuted at #1 on both the pop and rnb charts, the first album in history to do so. For that album, Cube decided to load some G-funk style beats which at that time was the big thing and some remix tunes which brought a new style to Cube, in which previously he had released some hardcore and extreme work. Singles from The Predator included "Today was a Good Day" and "Check Yo Self (remix)" which all had a 2 part music video.
After The Predator, Cube's audience began to diminish. Lethal Injection (1993) was not very well-liked by critics, and Dr. Dre and the West Coast G-Funk sound was dominating hip-hop. It wasn't until later that the album became popular. Taking a break from his own albums, Cube assisted on debuts from Da Lench Mob (Guerillas in the Mist) and Kam (Neva Again). He later dueted with Dr. Dre on "Natural Born Killaz."
Around this time in 1993, Ice Cube also worked with soon-to-be-acclaimed rapper Tupac Shakur with his album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. and appeared on a track with 2pac.
In 1994 Ice Cube released Bootlegs & B-Sides.
During this time, hip-hop started making a transition from the West Coast Funk Hip-Hop to a more gritty East Coast hip-hop. With Mack 10 and WC, Cube formed the Westside Connection in 1996, releasing their debut album Bow Down later that year. This album was in due to Ice Cube's theory that the East Coast lacked respect for West Coast hip-hop. Songs like "Bow Down", and "Gangstas Make The World Go 'Round" make reference to this. Sales were brisk, but it did not establish a large audience. This album was later perceived as a classic, especially on the West Coast. Cube released several more solo albums; however, he is now known more for his movies than his music.
In 1998 Ice Cube released War & Peace Vol 1: The War Disc
In 2000 Ice Cube released War & Peace Vol 2: The Peace Disc
In 2003 Ice Cube along with W.C. & Mack 10 released Terrorist Threats as the West Side Connection.
In December 2004, after a long break from recording, he reached #2 in the UK singles chart with the club favourite, "You Can Do It" (featuring Mack 10 and Ms Toi), released as a single 5 years after it was first included on movie soundtracks such as
Ice Cube was influenced by and took his name from African American pimp-turned-author Iceberg Slim, who published his autobiography Pimp in 1969. At one point, Ice Cube was scheduled to play the lead role in a movie adaptation of Pimp, but the project appears to be halted.
Cube's oldest son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., made his feature film debut in the 2015 N.W.A biopic "Straight Outta Compton," portraying his father.
Doing Dumb Shit
Ice Cube Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Get your ass in here boy
You hear me calling you?
O'Shea!
When I was young I used to hang with the seventh graders
Little bad motherfucker playing Space Invaders
Fucking with the girls in the fourth grade
Walking with the schoolhouse bully
By doing that I had a lot of pull G
Cheating on tests making a mess
Cussing like a sailor at recess
It must a been a half moon
Cause you'll catch me running out the little girls' bathroom
Chewing on Good and Plenties
Got my gamble on at lunch pitching pennies
Yo I was living like the class clown
Pulling all the hokes, making all the jokes man
When you young it's hard to see
That it's wrong throwing rocks at the RTD
Popping out your window with a BB gun
Better yet knocking on your door and run
Playing hide-and-go-get-it for a little stank
Even though I was still shooting blanks
As soon as the dark hit
I was stealing candy out the corner market
Until I got my ass whipped
Cause I was ten years old, doing dumb shit
Thirteen, that's how old I was
When my jimmy started getting a little peach fuzz
And I was looking at any butt and ass
Me and my homies started cutting class
Going up to the high school
Looking for any bitch I could lie to
Tell em I was older than I really was
Smoked my first joint and got really buzzed
That's what a mack's made of
But when I got my first piece of pussy I fell in love
Hard as a rock the long way
And then I put the rubber on the wrong way
But I still gotta have it
Overexcited and fucking like a jackrabbit
Goddamn I was hot
A virgin but I still knew how to lay pipe
Even though the hoe worked me
I still knocked the boots from here to Albuquerque
Then the shit got strange money
I started shaking and jimmy felt funny
Then the nut came gushing
I jumped up got dressed and start pushing
Cause I thought the bitch broke my dick
Cause I was still young doing dumb shit
At 17 got my first Volkswagon
And mastered the life-long art of dragging
To the women in college
Hung out with the OG's and got some street knowledge
Breaking in cars and all that
Hitting punk fools with a baseball bat
Fucking at a real fast rate
Til they said that I might not graduate
Then I said fuck the dumb shit
Cause Pops'll fuck me up quick
If things continued
So I start rapping about shit I been through
And I got real good
Now I look at all the kids in the neighborhood
Trying to be baby macks
Doing shit that I did seven years back
Going through a stage
But before they can grow up they on the front page
And they mommas is having a fit
Cause they died young doing dumb shit
Ice Cube's song "Doing Dumb Shit" is a reflective narrative about his youth and adolescence, highlighting several of the reckless and misguided choices he made growing up. The song is autobiographical beginning with Cube's mom calling out to him as a young boy, signaling the start of his recollection. As a young boy, he recalls his mischievous behavior: cheating on exams, cussing at recess, gambling, and stealing. Although these antics were inappropriate, and in some cases, even criminal, at the time, Cube didn't recognize the severity of his actions. In stanza two, Cube's recollection moves to his teenage years when he first experienced sexual desire, smoking marijuana, and cutting class. This led him to sleep with an older woman, where the experience was both perplexing and pleasurable. It became evident that this experience was that of a young man experimenting with sexuality and discovering who he was.
As he progressed into late adolescence, Cube's behavior took a more dangerous turn when he began stealing cars, physically attacking people with a baseball bat, and engaging in other illegal activities. Amid these actions, Cube acknowledges that he was lucky to make it out of his youth alive, unlike many young people in his community who died young, having made poor decisions. Through the song, Ice Cube emphasizes the need for mentors and elders to impart wisdom to young people to help them make more informed decisions.
Line by Line Meaning
O'Shea! O'Shea! Get your ass in here boy
Addressing young O'Shea to come inside and listen.
When I was young I used to hang with the seventh graders
As a young child, the singer used to associate with children who were older than him.
Little bad motherfucker playing Space Invaders
The singer was an ill-behaved child who played the game Space Invaders.
Fucking with the girls in the fourth grade
The artist used to sexually harass girls who were in fourth grade.
Either feeling on they butts or pulling on they braids
The artist used to touch and/or pull the hair of the girls in fourth grade.
Walking with the schoolhouse bully
The singer used to associate himself with the school bully.
By doing that I had a lot of pull G
The singer gained some social influence by hanging around the bully.
Cheating on tests making a mess
The artist cheated during tests and was also disruptive.
Cussing like a sailor at recess
The artist used profanity during recess.
It must a been a half moon
The artist is recalling an event that happened during a half moon.
Cause you'll catch me running out the little girls' bathroom
The singer used to run out of the little girls' restroom during a half moon.
Chewing on Good and Plenties
The artist is recalling a time when he used to chew Good and Plenties candy.
Got my gamble on at lunch pitching pennies
The singer used to gamble during his lunch break by playing pitching pennies.
Yo I was living like the class clown
The singer was the class clown and liked to entertain his peers.
Pulling all the hokes, making all the jokes man
The singer used to joke around and play pranks on his peers.
When you young it's hard to see
The artist is commenting on how it's hard to understand things when you're young.
That it's wrong throwing rocks at the RTD
The artist used to throw rocks at an RTD, but now knows that it was wrong.
Popping out your window with a BB gun
The singer used to shoot a BB gun out of his window.
Better yet knocking on your door and run
The singer would knock on a door and run away.
Playing hide-and-go-get-it for a little stank
The artist used to play a game called hide-and-go-get-it to chase after girls.
Even though I was still shooting blanks
The artist was too young to have children but still pursued sexual activities.
As soon as the dark hit
The artist would engage in negative behavior after dark.
I was stealing candy out the corner market
The singer would steal candy from the corner market.
Until I got my ass whipped
The artist stopped doing this behavior after he got punished.
Cause I was ten years old, doing dumb shit
The singer was doing dumb things at the age of ten.
Thirteen, that's how old I was
The singer is now recounting events that happened when he was thirteen years old.
When my jimmy started getting a little peach fuzz
The singer's pubic hair started growing.
And I was looking at any butt and ass
The artist was sexually attracted to any woman.
Me and my homies started cutting class
The artist would skip school with his friends.
Going up to the high school
The singer would go to the high school and look for women.
Looking for any bitch I could lie to
The singer would try to deceive women by lying to them.
Tell em I was older than I really was
The artist would lie about his age to try to impress women.
Smoked my first joint and got really buzzed
The artist got high for the first time.
But when I got my first piece of pussy I fell in love
The artist became attached to the first woman he had sex with.
Hard as a rock the long way
The singer had an erection.
And then I put the rubber on the wrong way
The artist put a condom on incorrectly.
But I still gotta have it
The singer was determined to have sexual intercourse.
Overexcited and fucking like a jackrabbit
The singer was very enthusiastic during sex.
Goddamn I was hot
The singer was aroused and attracted to his partner.
A virgin but I still knew how to lay pipe
The artist was inexperienced but still performed well sexually.
Even though the hoe worked me
The woman still enjoyed having sex with the artist even though he was inexperienced.
I still knocked the boots from here to Albuquerque
The singer had sex very often.
Then the shit got strange money
The situation took an odd turn.
I started shaking and jimmy felt funny
The artist started to shake after ejaculating.
Then the nut came gushing
The artist ejaculated.
I jumped up got dressed and start pushing
The artist quickly got up and got dressed after ejaculating.
Cause I thought the bitch broke my dick
The singer was afraid something happened to his penis.
Cause I was still young doing dumb shit
The artist was still doing negative things even though he had grown up more.
At 17 got my first Volkswagen
The singer got his first Volkswagen when he was 17 years old.
And mastered the lifelong art of dragging
The singer became good at racing his car.
To the women in college
The singer was attracted to college-aged women.
Hung out with the OG's and got some street knowledge
The artist associated with older gangsters and learned things from them.
Breaking in cars and all that
The artist would break into cars.
Hitting punk fools with a baseball bat
The singer would hit people with a baseball bat.
Fucking at a real fast rate
The singer was engaged in sexual activity often and quickly.
Til they said that I might not graduate
The artist was told that he might not graduate from school because of his behavior.
Then I said fuck the dumb shit
The artist made the decision to stop engaging in negative behavior.
Cause Pops'll fuck me up quick
The artist made that decision because of the potential consequences from his father.
If things continued
If his negative behavior continued.
So I start rapping about shit I been through
The artist decided to start rapping about his experiences.
And I got real good
The singer became a skilled rapper.
Now I look at all the kids in the neighborhood
The singer reflects on children in his area.
Trying to be baby macks
The singer sees the children trying to act like gangsters.
Doing shit that I did seven years back
The children are doing things that the artist did when he was their age.
Going through a stage
The children are going through a phase.
But before they can grow up they on the front page
Before they could mature, the children were already making headlines for negative behavior.
And they mommas is having a fit
Their mothers are worried about their children's behavior.
Cause they died young doing dumb shit
The children ended up dying young because of their negative behavior.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: GEORGE CLINTON, WILLIAM BOOTSY COLLINS, O' JACKSON, BERNIE WORRELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind