WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.799 Welcome to the Deep Dive. We're here, as always, 00:00:02.980 --> 00:00:05.719 to take that big stack of research, all those 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:08.380 articles and notes you've got, and boil it all 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:10.380 down to the essentials, the stuff you really 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:13.480 need to know. And today, we've got a big one, 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:16.379 a really big one. We're diving deep into the 00:00:16.379 --> 00:00:20.339 career of O'Shea Jackson Sr. You know him, of 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:24.260 course, as Ice Cube. Yeah, decades long, incredibly 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:26.719 complex career. Sometimes feel like he's lived 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:29.280 multiple lives, honestly. It's kind of wild when 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:31.199 you think about it. I mean, who else has a trajectory 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:35.799 quite like his? It's so radical, but also incredibly 00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:38.060 successful. Right. You look at his influence, 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:39.979 and it's not just that he was part of cultural 00:00:39.979 --> 00:00:42.320 shifts. He was often driving them. We're talking 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:45.079 about someone who basically helped build gangster 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:47.299 rap. The architect, you might say. Exactly. Then 00:00:47.299 --> 00:00:51.030 became this... really fierce political voice, 00:00:51.170 --> 00:00:54.829 then somehow pivots into being a major Hollywood 00:00:54.829 --> 00:00:58.109 star, like bankable family comedies and stuff. 00:00:58.250 --> 00:01:00.130 And then starts a whole professional sports league. 00:01:00.170 --> 00:01:02.289 It's a lot. It really is. That transition alone 00:01:02.289 --> 00:01:05.159 could be its own deep dive. For sure. So our 00:01:05.159 --> 00:01:07.799 mission today for you listening is to try and 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:10.260 get a handle on these key periods of his influence 00:01:10.260 --> 00:01:13.319 quickly but thoroughly. We need to map out how 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:16.319 his public image, his persona evolved. Yeah, 00:01:16.379 --> 00:01:19.540 from those explosive, really controversial beginnings 00:01:19.540 --> 00:01:21.900 with N .W .A. through that peak political commentary 00:01:21.900 --> 00:01:24.319 period and then right into this transformation. 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:27.439 Global actor, producer, entrepreneur. OK, so 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:29.200 let's start with the basics. Just a snapshot. 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:33.379 Born O'Shea Jackson, June 15th, 1969 in L .A. 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:35.799 Right. And he's a rapper, songwriter, actor, 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:39.879 film producer, a true multi hyphenate. His importance. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:41.859 Well, you see it solidified with things like 00:01:41.859 --> 00:01:44.379 the 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction 00:01:44.379 --> 00:01:47.519 for N .W .A. And just recently, right, N .W .A. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:49.599 got the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:51.980 2024. That's it. So this isn't just some flash 00:01:51.980 --> 00:01:55.090 in the pan celebrity. He's foundational. An institution, 00:01:55.310 --> 00:01:58.010 really. Okay, so to really get that early fire, 00:01:58.150 --> 00:02:00.189 the revolutionary stuff in his music, we kind 00:02:00.189 --> 00:02:02.670 of have to look beyond just the NWA legend, right? 00:02:02.930 --> 00:02:04.530 Understand where he came from, his upbringing, 00:02:04.709 --> 00:02:07.310 and maybe crucially, his discipline. Yeah, he 00:02:07.310 --> 00:02:09.669 grew up in South Los Angeles, the Westmont section 00:02:09.669 --> 00:02:12.189 specifically. Definitely a high crime area back 00:02:12.189 --> 00:02:14.400 then. But his family background is interesting. 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:17.520 It wasn't maybe the stereotypical story you'd 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:20.120 expect. Not entirely. His parents had this working 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:22.900 class foundation, you know, focused on stability. 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:26.759 His mom was a hospital clerk and custodian. His 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:29.520 dad worked two jobs, machinist and a groundskeeper 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:32.379 at UCLA. That background feels important. It's 00:02:32.379 --> 00:02:35.819 not like immediate dire poverty, maybe, but it's 00:02:35.819 --> 00:02:37.840 about hard work, seeing the system up close, 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:41.460 observing inequality. You can feel that fueling 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:44.120 the early lyrics. Absolutely. And he started 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:46.580 writing really young, like ninth grade in high 00:02:46.580 --> 00:02:49.300 school, George Washington Prep. Apparently he 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:50.860 took up the challenge in a typewriting class. 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:53.439 Really? Typewriting? Yeah. He actually said the 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:55.659 rhythm of the keyboard clicks helped him figure 00:02:55.659 --> 00:02:58.120 out the rhythms for his raps. Kind of cool. Huh. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:01.469 Okay. And what about the name, Ice Cube? Where 00:03:01.469 --> 00:03:03.569 did that come from? It's pretty iconic. It's 00:03:03.569 --> 00:03:05.689 actually one of the funniest stories in the source 00:03:05.689 --> 00:03:07.789 material, I think. Yeah. Came from his older 00:03:07.789 --> 00:03:09.870 brother. No. Yeah, apparently his brother got 00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:12.090 fed up with him one day and threatened to, quote, 00:03:12.229 --> 00:03:14.550 slam him into a freezer and pull him out when 00:03:14.550 --> 00:03:18.210 he was an ice cube. Just like that. Sibling rivalry. 00:03:18.509 --> 00:03:21.430 Pretty much. A playful start for a name that 00:03:21.430 --> 00:03:23.750 ended up meaning something so hardcore, you know. 00:03:23.789 --> 00:03:25.909 Definitely. Okay, here's the part that really 00:03:25.909 --> 00:03:28.370 jumps out. The thing that kind of flips the script 00:03:28.370 --> 00:03:32.129 on that young, revolutionary NWA image. Ice Cube 00:03:32.129 --> 00:03:35.610 wasn't just about the music. He was, well, he 00:03:35.610 --> 00:03:38.569 was practical. Incredibly pragmatic, yeah. This 00:03:38.569 --> 00:03:41.449 is key. He seriously considered architectural 00:03:41.449 --> 00:03:44.669 drafting as his backup plan. His real career 00:03:44.669 --> 00:03:47.629 path if music didn't work out. A backup plan, 00:03:47.710 --> 00:03:50.379 wow. And he actually pursued it. Oh, yeah. He 00:03:50.379 --> 00:03:52.500 went to Taft High School for it, which meant 00:03:52.500 --> 00:03:55.020 taking like a 40 mile bus ride each way every 00:03:55.020 --> 00:03:57.419 day out to the suburbs. Yeah. Woodland Hills. 00:03:57.580 --> 00:04:00.500 That's dedication. 40 miles daily. Yeah. Away 00:04:00.500 --> 00:04:02.639 from South Central. And it wasn't just talk. 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:05.080 He got a diploma in architectural drafting from 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:07.780 the Phoenix Institute of Technology in 1988. 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:10.280 So he was actually a certified draftsman. That 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:14.400 implies like precision, planning. Seeing the 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:17.120 big picture, blueprinting things, does that track 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:19.480 with his lyrics, you think, that structure? I 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:21.879 think it absolutely does. That ability to see 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:24.949 a structure, plan it out. Build it piece by piece. 00:04:25.129 --> 00:04:27.730 That defines his whole career, not just the music. 00:04:28.089 --> 00:04:31.509 You see it in how dense his verses are, how he 00:04:31.509 --> 00:04:33.870 structures arguments. And later on, we'll see 00:04:33.870 --> 00:04:36.029 it in his albums, too, right? The thematic structure. 00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:38.850 Exactly. Like with Death Certificate. The planning 00:04:38.850 --> 00:04:41.290 is meticulous. So, yeah, the revolutionary fire 00:04:41.290 --> 00:04:43.689 was there, but it was being channeled by someone 00:04:43.689 --> 00:04:46.509 who knew how to draw up a plan. OK, but the music 00:04:46.509 --> 00:04:51.029 bug bit hard and early. 1986, he's only 16, forms 00:04:51.029 --> 00:04:53.870 a group, CIA. Yeah, with his friend Sue Jenks. 00:04:53.990 --> 00:04:56.129 They started performing at parties, parties hosted 00:04:56.129 --> 00:04:59.050 by Dr. Dre. Ah, the connection. Right there. 00:04:59.230 --> 00:05:02.029 Immediate. And Dre recognized Cube's writing 00:05:02.029 --> 00:05:03.889 talent straight away. Cube actually did some 00:05:03.889 --> 00:05:06.430 ghostwriting for Dre's earlier group, World Class 00:05:06.430 --> 00:05:08.410 Wrecking Crew, helped write their hit Cabbage 00:05:08.410 --> 00:05:10.790 Patch. So he was already writing hits, basically. 00:05:11.089 --> 00:05:14.370 Pretty much. But the real start of N .W .A., 00:05:14.370 --> 00:05:16.750 The Catalyst, was when he sold his first song 00:05:16.750 --> 00:05:19.689 to Eric Wright, Yeezy E. And that sale, that 00:05:19.689 --> 00:05:23.850 track, brought the core group together and basically 00:05:23.850 --> 00:05:26.269 launched gangster rap as we know it. That's the 00:05:26.269 --> 00:05:28.709 story. And here's a little detail people sometimes 00:05:28.709 --> 00:05:34.050 miss. Cube was the only main N .W .A. guy not 00:05:34.050 --> 00:05:35.829 actually born in Compton. He was from South Central 00:05:35.829 --> 00:05:38.490 L .A. Gives him slightly different lens, maybe. 00:05:38.689 --> 00:05:41.069 Interesting. So you had Cube, the writer, Dre, 00:05:41.250 --> 00:05:44.389 the producer. What was that dynamic like? Electric, 00:05:44.449 --> 00:05:46.430 by all accounts. Cube wrote Boys in the Hood, 00:05:46.569 --> 00:05:49.110 Eazy rapped it, and boom. That defined the narrative. 00:05:49.430 --> 00:05:51.769 But what's really crucial about this era is just 00:05:51.769 --> 00:05:54.110 how central Cube was as the writer. He wasn't 00:05:54.110 --> 00:05:56.110 just a rapper in the group. No, he was the lead 00:05:56.110 --> 00:05:58.550 rapper. And he wrote most of the lyrics on Straight 00:05:58.550 --> 00:06:02.329 Outta Compton, that iconic 1989 album. Wow. Most 00:06:02.329 --> 00:06:04.250 of it. That album was a cultural earthquake. 00:06:04.290 --> 00:06:06.670 It basically defined West Coast hip -hop's identity. 00:06:07.620 --> 00:06:10.079 Controversial, violent, but undeniable. He was 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:12.060 the voice, the pen, the architect, like you said. 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:14.139 Which makes the breakup, what happened next, 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:16.300 even more dramatic. It all came down to money, 00:06:16.379 --> 00:06:20.180 didn't it? And respect. Yeah. Late 1989, Cube 00:06:20.180 --> 00:06:22.259 starts asking questions. Questions about his 00:06:22.259 --> 00:06:25.480 pay, about how the group's manager, Jerry Heller, 00:06:25.540 --> 00:06:27.500 was handling things. And the number that gets 00:06:27.500 --> 00:06:30.420 thrown around in the sources, it's kind of shocking. 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:32.899 It's staggering. He reportedly got paid only 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:36.980 $32 ,000. $32 ,000. For writing most of Straight 00:06:36.980 --> 00:06:40.120 Outta Compton A &E, most of Eazy -E's huge debut 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:42.980 album, Eazy Does It. That's the reported figure, 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:45.399 $32 ,000 for helping build an empire that was 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:48.079 making millions. That's, yeah, that's grounds 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:50.259 for war right there. It was pure exploitation, 00:06:50.420 --> 00:06:52.779 basically. Especially when you consider the profits 00:06:52.779 --> 00:06:55.589 Ruthless Records was making. And the sources 00:06:55.589 --> 00:06:57.889 say the final straw was the contract they eventually 00:06:57.889 --> 00:07:00.509 offered him. It didn't even properly list him 00:07:00.509 --> 00:07:02.870 as an official member of NWA. Seriously, after 00:07:02.870 --> 00:07:05.029 writing all those lyrics. Treated him like a 00:07:05.029 --> 00:07:07.569 hired gun, not a partner. So that disrespect, 00:07:07.949 --> 00:07:10.209 financially and personally, that was it. He walks, 00:07:10.430 --> 00:07:14.170 late 89, sues Heller, settles out of court, and 00:07:14.170 --> 00:07:17.459 then the disses start flying. Oh yeah. And W 00:07:17.459 --> 00:07:20.040 .A. did not take it well. They went after him 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:22.439 hard on their next EP, 100 Miles and Runnin', 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:24.579 and then again on the final album, Niggas for 00:07:24.579 --> 00:07:27.500 Life. Vicious stuff. So that sets the stage, 00:07:27.540 --> 00:07:30.560 right? This intense personal anger mixed with 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:32.379 the political fire he already had. He's got to 00:07:32.379 --> 00:07:35.199 reinvent himself. Solo. And he does it immediately. 00:07:35.699 --> 00:07:37.540 Walks away from the biggest rap group on the 00:07:37.540 --> 00:07:40.360 planet, facing lawsuits, getting dissed. And 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:42.959 what does he do? Drops his solo debut, America's 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:46.060 Most Wanted, in 1990. But not from L .A., right? 00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:48.319 He switched coasts. Yeah, that's a really smart 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:50.759 move. He goes to New York, works with Public 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:53.259 Enemy's production team, the Bomb Squad, legendary 00:07:53.259 --> 00:07:55.560 producers. Why was that so strategic? Well, it's 00:07:55.560 --> 00:07:57.740 a deliberate step away from that West Coast G 00:07:57.740 --> 00:08:00.519 -funk sound Dre was starting to perfect. Working 00:08:00.519 --> 00:08:02.720 with the Bomb Squad meant blending his West Coast 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:05.220 reality rap with that dense, noisy, politically 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:07.779 charged East Coast sound. And it worked. Instantly. 00:08:08.100 --> 00:08:10.360 Huge hit. It submitted his stance, you know, 00:08:10.420 --> 00:08:13.689 black nationalism, the struggle. But... It also 00:08:13.689 --> 00:08:16.589 immediately drew fire. Accusations of misogyny, 00:08:16.649 --> 00:08:19.410 racism. Right off the bat. So the controversy 00:08:19.410 --> 00:08:22.230 followed him, or maybe he courted it. A bit of 00:08:22.230 --> 00:08:24.889 both, probably. But even while he's building 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:28.790 this solo icon status, he's also, like, putting 00:08:28.790 --> 00:08:31.189 his money where his mouth is. Community building. 00:08:31.470 --> 00:08:34.450 How so? He used his platform to help other artists. 00:08:34.669 --> 00:08:37.529 Most notably, the female rapper Yo -Yo, who was 00:08:37.529 --> 00:08:40.110 on his first album. He made her the head of his 00:08:40.110 --> 00:08:42.850 record label, Street Knowledge. Producer debut 00:08:42.850 --> 00:08:44.629 album. So he wasn't just tearing things down. 00:08:44.710 --> 00:08:46.490 He was trying to build something, too. Exactly. 00:08:46.769 --> 00:08:48.710 Show he was thinking bigger than just himself 00:08:48.710 --> 00:08:51.490 and commercially. He proved he could do it alone 00:08:51.490 --> 00:08:55.210 fast. Released the Kill It Will EP later in 1990. 00:08:55.690 --> 00:08:58.009 Became the first rap EP ever to go platinum. 00:08:58.250 --> 00:09:00.769 Platinum EP. He was undeniably the hottest rapper 00:09:00.769 --> 00:09:03.110 out there. No question. Which brings us to 1991. 00:09:03.690 --> 00:09:07.230 His second album, Death Certificate. And if America's 00:09:07.230 --> 00:09:09.549 Most Wanted stirred things up. Death Certificate 00:09:09.549 --> 00:09:12.220 was throwing dynamite. Pretty much. An outright 00:09:12.220 --> 00:09:14.220 declaration of war, politically and personally. 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:16.259 And here's that architectural planning again, 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:18.700 right? The structure of the album? Particulous. 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:20.279 It wasn't just a collection of songs. It was 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:22.740 split. The death side and the life side. What 00:09:22.740 --> 00:09:24.899 was the idea behind that? The death side was, 00:09:25.139 --> 00:09:27.940 in his words, a vision of where we are today. 00:09:28.980 --> 00:09:31.659 bleak, unflinching look at society, systemic 00:09:31.659 --> 00:09:34.379 problems. The life side was a vision of where 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:37.039 we need to go, a call to action, self -improvement 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:39.419 based on those black nationalist ideas. But that 00:09:39.419 --> 00:09:41.700 structure really does reflect that draftsman's 00:09:41.700 --> 00:09:44.440 mindset, blueprinting the message. Totally. But 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:48.000 the content, even more controversial than the 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:50.379 first album. Accusations flying, anti -white, 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:53.820 anti -Semitic, intensely misogynistic. The tension 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:56.299 between the message and the language was just... 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:59.039 Right there. Unavoidable. Which means we have 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:01.820 to talk about no Vaseline. You have to. This 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:04.740 is his final, brutal answer to NWA's disses. 00:10:04.820 --> 00:10:06.860 And it went nuclear, attacked his old crew, but 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:09.860 especially Jerry Heller. Viciously. The source 00:10:09.860 --> 00:10:11.759 material is very specific about the language 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:14.379 used. It targeted Heller, referencing his Jewish 00:10:14.379 --> 00:10:16.980 ethnicity with terms like white Jew, white man, 00:10:17.139 --> 00:10:19.360 devil, and it directly called for his murder. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:22.440 Yeah, that's incredibly dark, even for a rap 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:25.100 beef. Crossed a serious line. The backlash was 00:10:25.100 --> 00:10:29.399 immediate and huge, obviously. But for full context, 00:10:29.700 --> 00:10:32.320 the sources also note that much later, in 2015, 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:36.320 Cube did express regret. specifically about using 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:39.519 the word Jew, said his target was Heller personally 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:41.860 and financially, not the whole community. OK, 00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:44.259 that context is important, even if it came years 00:10:44.259 --> 00:10:45.940 later. There was another track on there, too, 00:10:45.980 --> 00:10:48.580 right? Black Korea. Right. Focused on the tensions 00:10:48.580 --> 00:10:50.820 between black residents and Korean store owners 00:10:50.820 --> 00:10:53.799 in South Central L .A., called racist at the 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:56.759 time. But looking back, it felt prophetic, eerily 00:10:56.759 --> 00:10:59.799 so. It basically laid out the tensions that exploded 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:02.990 in the 1992 L .A. riots. Just months after the 00:11:02.990 --> 00:11:05.850 album dropped. Wow. So this political firestorm 00:11:05.850 --> 00:11:07.950 leads him right into his biggest commercial success. 00:11:08.330 --> 00:11:11.409 Exactly. The Predator, released in 1992 right 00:11:11.409 --> 00:11:14.289 after the riots. Steeped in that chaos. And commercially, 00:11:14.470 --> 00:11:16.590 this was the peak. Over 3 million copies sold 00:11:16.590 --> 00:11:19.549 in the U .S. And here's the crazy stat. The Predator 00:11:19.549 --> 00:11:22.370 was the first album ever to debut at number one 00:11:22.370 --> 00:11:24.789 on both the R &B hip -hop charts and the main 00:11:24.789 --> 00:11:27.549 pop charts. Simultaneously. First ever. That's 00:11:27.549 --> 00:11:30.049 huge crossover appeal. Without softening the 00:11:30.049 --> 00:11:33.159 message, it seems. Not really. The song Wicked 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:36.879 directly referenced the riots. April 29 was Power 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:39.059 to the People, and we might just see a sequel. 00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:41.919 Capture that raw attention. And this album gave 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:44.740 us massive hits like It Was a Good Day. A classic. 00:11:44.860 --> 00:11:47.200 Showed a different side, too. Yeah. Calmer, more 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:50.320 narrative, and also Check Yourself, which was 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:53.370 more aggressive. cemented his superstardom okay 00:11:53.370 --> 00:11:56.730 but here's the massive twist the paradox he hits 00:11:56.730 --> 00:11:59.850 this incredible peak number one debut millions 00:11:59.850 --> 00:12:02.769 sold but the sources are really clear on this 00:12:02.769 --> 00:12:06.649 yeah his original core rap audience the political 00:12:06.649 --> 00:12:09.169 heads, they started falling off. The sources 00:12:09.169 --> 00:12:11.850 say his rap audience severely diminished and 00:12:11.850 --> 00:12:13.809 never regained the prominence of his first three 00:12:13.809 --> 00:12:16.350 albums. So his biggest commercial success marks 00:12:16.350 --> 00:12:18.250 the point where his original fan base starts 00:12:18.250 --> 00:12:20.909 to drift away. Essentially, yes. That's a huge 00:12:20.909 --> 00:12:23.370 turning point. It forces him to rethink things. 00:12:23.470 --> 00:12:25.370 The political edge maybe got too sharp for some, 00:12:25.429 --> 00:12:27.450 or the market just moved on to the next thing 00:12:27.450 --> 00:12:29.809 G -Funk was exploding then. So the artist, the 00:12:29.809 --> 00:12:32.789 draftsman, had to adapt or fade away. And Ice 00:12:32.789 --> 00:12:35.519 Cube chose adaptation, big time. And that adaptation 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:39.100 came fast, mainly through movies. His first big 00:12:39.100 --> 00:12:43.200 role, 1991, Boys in the Hood, playing Doughboy. 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:46.740 Directed by John Singleton. Seminal film. And 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:48.940 the irony, of course, is the title comes from 00:12:48.940 --> 00:12:52.600 that first NWA song Cube wrote. He was so convincing 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:55.240 in that role, just embodied that character caught 00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:57.360 in the system that gave him instant acting cred. 00:12:57.539 --> 00:13:00.279 Absolutely. But you see his priorities shifting. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:03.120 Almost immediately. He actually turned down a 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:05.279 big role after that, supposed to co -star with 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.100 Janet Jackson in Singleton's next movie, Poetic 00:13:08.100 --> 00:13:10.440 Justice. Really? Who ended up getting that role? 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:13.860 Tupac Shakur. And it was a huge boost for Tupac's 00:13:13.860 --> 00:13:17.120 acting career. So, cute passing on that says 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:19.919 something. Maybe moving away from those intense, 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.879 dramatic roles. Or wanting more control. Could 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:26.360 be. Or just wanting a different image. Musically, 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:28.139 though, he did try to follow the trend for a 00:13:28.139 --> 00:13:31.419 bit. His 1993 album, Legal Injection. Right. 00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:33.440 That one leaned heavily into the G -Funk sound 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:35.639 Dre was killing it with. Exactly. And that's 00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:37.299 kind of why it didn't fully connect with his 00:13:37.299 --> 00:13:39.600 old audience or the critics he was following, 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:42.220 not leading, which wasn't his usual style. So 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:44.860 the reception was kind of lukewarm. Yeah. I mean, 00:13:44.860 --> 00:13:47.960 it had hits like Bop Gun, One Nation, and you 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:49.980 know how we do it, big singles. Yeah. But the 00:13:49.980 --> 00:13:53.460 sources say after this album, that core sociopolitical 00:13:53.460 --> 00:13:55.690 rap audience. Pretty much gone. He wasn't that 00:13:55.690 --> 00:13:59.029 voice anymore. But old wounds started to heal 00:13:59.029 --> 00:14:01.210 a little. He worked with Dre again. Yeah, 1984. 00:14:01.549 --> 00:14:03.950 First time since the NWA split. Yeah. They did 00:14:03.950 --> 00:14:06.870 the track Natural Born Collaz. Signaled that 00:14:06.870 --> 00:14:09.110 maybe that huge public beef was cooling down. 00:14:09.409 --> 00:14:11.490 Opened the door for more later. Okay, so while 00:14:11.490 --> 00:14:13.789 his solo music thing is shifting, he's also dealing 00:14:13.789 --> 00:14:15.929 with the whole East Coast, West Coast rap booth, 00:14:15.990 --> 00:14:18.690 right? That was heating up in the mid -90s. Fiercely. 00:14:19.110 --> 00:14:22.009 And there's this feeling on the West Coast, rightly 00:14:22.009 --> 00:14:25.120 or wrongly, that the East Coast media, the magazines, 00:14:25.460 --> 00:14:28.139 the radio, they were ignoring or downplaying 00:14:28.139 --> 00:14:30.960 West Coast artists. So Cube decides to address 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:33.960 this head -on. Strategically. Forms a supergroup, 00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:37.539 almost. West Side Connection, in 1995, with MAC 00:14:37.539 --> 00:14:40.460 -10 and WEC. And the goal was explicit. Purely 00:14:40.460 --> 00:14:42.720 ideological, really. To wave the West Coast flag, 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:45.740 challenge that perceived East Coast bias, reinforce 00:14:45.740 --> 00:14:47.960 West Coast pride. How'd that go? Their first 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:51.519 album, Bow Down, in 96. It was basically a declaration 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:55.049 of war. Lyrically, very unapologetic. And it 00:14:55.049 --> 00:14:57.389 worked, commercially at least. Went platinum 00:14:57.389 --> 00:14:59.529 pretty quickly. Showed he could still mobilize 00:14:59.529 --> 00:15:02.549 that regional pride, even if the political audience 00:15:02.549 --> 00:15:04.610 had shrunk. But the group didn't last forever. 00:15:04.990 --> 00:15:08.090 Nah, they disbanded around 2005. And the reason 00:15:08.090 --> 00:15:11.090 why tells you everything about Cube's focus by 00:15:11.090 --> 00:15:13.029 then. There was a falling out between Cube and 00:15:13.029 --> 00:15:15.850 MAC -10. Over what? According to the sources, 00:15:16.090 --> 00:15:18.129 it was because Cube's Hollywood commitments were 00:15:18.129 --> 00:15:19.809 getting in the way of the group touring properly. 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:22.740 Film had clearly become the priority over music 00:15:22.740 --> 00:15:25.059 group commitments. Which brings us right to that 00:15:25.059 --> 00:15:27.340 Hollywood transformation. It really kicked off 00:15:27.340 --> 00:15:29.299 with advice from John Singleton. Yeah, Singleton 00:15:29.299 --> 00:15:31.179 apparently told him, if you can write a record, 00:15:31.259 --> 00:15:33.519 you can write a movie. Simple as that. And Cube 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:36.080 ran with it. Co -wrote and starred in Friday 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:40.000 in 1995 with Chris Tucker. That movie was the 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:43.120 pivot point. Financially, huge success. Made 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:45.799 for like $3 .5 million, grossed over $28 million 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:49.549 worldwide. Pina's budget, big return. But it 00:15:49.549 --> 00:15:51.529 was more than just the money, right? The image 00:15:51.529 --> 00:15:54.629 shift. Totally. The sources say it critically 00:15:54.629 --> 00:15:58.309 reshaped his public image into an actor. He went 00:15:58.309 --> 00:16:01.169 from Doughboy, that intense, tragic figure, to 00:16:01.169 --> 00:16:04.649 Craig in Friday. Laid back, funny, relatable. 00:16:04.850 --> 00:16:07.309 That gave him huge mainstream flexibility. And 00:16:07.309 --> 00:16:09.730 he started directing, too. Yep. Made his directorial 00:16:09.730 --> 00:16:12.350 debut in 1998 with The Players Club. His film 00:16:12.350 --> 00:16:14.549 career just exploded after that. He wasn't just 00:16:14.549 --> 00:16:17.769 doing comedies, either. No, showed range. Like 00:16:17.769 --> 00:16:20.830 three kings in 1999 that acclaimed war comedy 00:16:20.830 --> 00:16:23.350 with George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. But his 00:16:23.350 --> 00:16:26.509 real genius was launching franchises, barbershop, 00:16:26.590 --> 00:16:29.129 and the family -friendly stuff from there yet 00:16:29.129 --> 00:16:31.830 broadened his audience massively. So during this 00:16:31.830 --> 00:16:33.750 whole Hollywood boom, what was happening with 00:16:33.750 --> 00:16:36.049 his music? Was it just on the back burner? Not 00:16:36.049 --> 00:16:38.610 entirely, but it felt more like checking in, 00:16:38.730 --> 00:16:41.759 reminding people of his roots. His albums Warm, 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:44.000 Peaceful, Hear One and Two came out then, and 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:46.860 they featured reunions with Dre and MC Ren, slowly 00:16:46.860 --> 00:16:49.480 patching up those NWA relationships on record. 00:16:49.659 --> 00:16:51.019 And he was doing some interesting collaborations 00:16:51.019 --> 00:16:53.700 outside of hip -hop, too. Yeah, really smart 00:16:53.700 --> 00:16:56.620 strategic moves to broaden his reach even further. 00:16:56.940 --> 00:16:59.419 He worked with David Bowie and Trent Reznor on 00:16:59.419 --> 00:17:01.600 a remix of Bowie's track I'm Afraid of Americans 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:05.319 in 97. Bowie and Pube, wow. And then, crucially, 00:17:05.420 --> 00:17:07.859 he featured on a track with the new metal band 00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:12.079 Korn. Children of the Korn, in 98, and even joined 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:14.779 them on the Family Values tour. Why Korn? That 00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:17.519 seems like an odd fit. Genius move, though. It 00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:19.380 put him right in front of that whole alternative 00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:22.259 rock, new metal crowd, an audience that was already 00:17:22.259 --> 00:17:25.420 into controversial figures, outsider vibes, expanded 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:28.299 his base way beyond hip -hop, which had kind 00:17:28.299 --> 00:17:30.339 of moved on from his early sound anyway. Smart. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.539 And then he cemented that elder statesman role 00:17:32.539 --> 00:17:34.920 with that big tour in 2000. The Up in Smoke tour. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:38.680 Massive. Him, Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg. Basically, 00:17:38.700 --> 00:17:41.140 the Kings of West Coast rap plus Eminem. Huge 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:43.859 statement. So by the time his 2006 album, Laugh 00:17:43.859 --> 00:17:45.960 Now, Cry Later, comes out, the music is kind 00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:48.900 of riding the wave of his movie fame. Largely, 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:51.460 yeah. It still did well. Sold like $144 ,000 00:17:51.460 --> 00:17:54.579 first week. Had the single Why We Thugs. Proved 00:17:54.579 --> 00:17:56.119 people still listened when he dropped music, 00:17:56.220 --> 00:17:58.740 even if film was clearly the main focus. Okay, 00:17:58.759 --> 00:18:03.859 so post -2006, Cube is firmly this. This mogul, 00:18:03.859 --> 00:18:06.420 right? Producer, entrepreneur. But the music 00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:08.579 doesn't completely starve him. No, it remains 00:18:08.579 --> 00:18:11.079 like a personal anchor for him, it seems. He 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:13.420 keeps collaborating, often across different styles. 00:18:13.700 --> 00:18:16.180 Worked with crunk guys like Lojan and the Eastside 00:18:16.180 --> 00:18:19.099 Boys. Did tracks with Insane Clown Posse, Tech 00:18:19.099 --> 00:18:22.680 N9. Keeps his hand in, stays connected. But releasing 00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:25.940 his own albums? That got tricky. Lots of delays. 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:28.039 Yeah, his business interests, the film schedules, 00:18:28.180 --> 00:18:30.400 they clearly took precedence. His 10th album, 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:32.220 Everything's Corrupt, that was a prime example. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:34.660 Announced way early, so it's supposed to have 00:18:34.660 --> 00:18:36.519 a title track timed for an election. For the 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:39.039 political heads, he said. Right. But it kept 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:41.000 getting pushed back. Finally came out in 2018. 00:18:41.220 --> 00:18:44.200 Took years. The film slate just seemed to dominate. 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:46.460 But that West Coast connection, that loyalty, 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:48.599 that stays strong. He formed another super group 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.579 recently. Yeah, Mount Westmore. In 2020, him, 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:55.039 Snoop Dogg, E -40, Too Short, Absolute Legends, 00:18:55.299 --> 00:18:57.680 Titans of the West Coast, released their debut 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:00.509 in 2020. Except they're dropping music now. actively 00:19:00.509 --> 00:19:03.250 11th album man down just came out in november 00:19:03.250 --> 00:19:07.190 2024 and a 12th man up this is apparently scheduled 00:19:07.190 --> 00:19:09.950 for 2025 he even put out a single called before 00:19:09.950 --> 00:19:12.930 hip -hop so the music drive is still there okay 00:19:12.930 --> 00:19:14.970 shifting back to the producer director hat he 00:19:14.970 --> 00:19:17.130 explored some interesting themes there too beyond 00:19:17.130 --> 00:19:19.829 just entertainment that documentary series black 00:19:19.829 --> 00:19:24.369 white back in 2005 co -created that explored 00:19:24.369 --> 00:19:26.410 race and identity by having families basically 00:19:26.410 --> 00:19:29.049 swap racial appearances. Provocative stuff. And 00:19:29.049 --> 00:19:30.950 he directed that ESPN documentary, too, The 30 00:19:30.950 --> 00:19:33.569 for 30. Straight out of L .A. in 2010. That's 00:19:33.569 --> 00:19:36.269 a fantastic piece of work. It digs into how L 00:19:36.269 --> 00:19:38.670 .A. politics, hip -hop, and the Raiders football 00:19:38.670 --> 00:19:41.309 team all got tangled up together in the late 00:19:41.309 --> 00:19:43.369 80s, early 90s. His connection to the Raiders 00:19:43.369 --> 00:19:45.849 is deep, isn't it? Yeah, N .W .A. adopting that 00:19:45.849 --> 00:19:48.009 silver and black Raiders gear. That basically 00:19:48.009 --> 00:19:50.480 made the team's image. synonymous with hip -hop 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:53.079 rebellion he's a diehard fan still is even now 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:55.299 they're in vegas released two raiders anthems 00:19:55.299 --> 00:19:57.200 over the years loves the dodgers and lakers too 00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:00.319 true la guy and the movie franchises kept rolling 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.039 turning into tv shows even all right are we there 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:07.740 yet Became a TV series on TBS in 2010. Huge success. 00:20:08.019 --> 00:20:10.779 Got renewed for like 90 episodes. Shows his knack 00:20:10.779 --> 00:20:12.440 for building bankable properties. And then the 00:20:12.440 --> 00:20:14.920 big one, bringing his own story full circle, 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:18.799 Straight Outta Compton, the movie, in 2015. He 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:20.200 was an executive producer on that and made sure 00:20:20.200 --> 00:20:27.140 the story got told from their perspective. That's 00:20:27.140 --> 00:20:29.500 a pretty amazing moment, seeing your story pass 00:20:29.500 --> 00:20:31.099 down like that and being involved in telling 00:20:31.099 --> 00:20:33.119 it. Now, we talked about him walking away from 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:36.960 NWA over principles, over money. Does that uncompromising 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.500 streak still show up even now? He's a multimillionaire 00:20:39.500 --> 00:20:42.940 modal? Absolutely. Perfect example. 2021. He 00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:45.359 was set to star in a big comedy. Oh, hell no. 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:48.200 It's called Stepdude Now with Jack Black. Major 00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:51.000 movie. What happened? He left the project. Walked 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:53.319 away because he refused to get the COVID -19 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:55.640 vaccine, which the production required. And that 00:20:55.640 --> 00:20:58.440 cost him? Reportedly, a $9 million paycheck. 00:20:59.289 --> 00:21:02.690 Just gone. $9 million. Yeah. So whatever your 00:21:02.690 --> 00:21:05.170 views on that specific issue, it shows he's still 00:21:05.170 --> 00:21:08.009 willing to stick to his guns, prioritize his 00:21:08.009 --> 00:21:11.289 personal stance over a massive payday. That core 00:21:11.289 --> 00:21:13.630 cube, the guy who fought ruthless records. Right. 00:21:13.710 --> 00:21:16.230 Still there. And then the most unexpected venture, 00:21:16.329 --> 00:21:20.130 maybe? Sports ownership? Big three. Yeah. Launched 00:21:20.130 --> 00:21:22.670 in 2017, professional three -on -three basketball 00:21:22.670 --> 00:21:25.890 league with former NBA stars. This isn't just 00:21:25.890 --> 00:21:27.789 like a celebrity vanity project. No, it's legit. 00:21:27.970 --> 00:21:30.650 A successful growing league. Positions him as 00:21:30.650 --> 00:21:33.210 a serious sports entrepreneur, leveraging his 00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:35.589 fame, sure, but also his business sense. It's 00:21:35.589 --> 00:21:37.329 that draftsman again, right? Yeah. Building another 00:21:37.329 --> 00:21:39.490 solid structure. Okay, let's move into the more 00:21:39.490 --> 00:21:41.589 personal side. Behind the mogul, the rapper, 00:21:41.730 --> 00:21:45.349 the actor, what do the sources say about his 00:21:45.349 --> 00:21:48.460 personal life, his beliefs? Well, stability seems 00:21:48.460 --> 00:21:51.240 key in his family life. He married Kimberly Woodruff 00:21:51.240 --> 00:21:54.660 way back in 1992. Still together, over 30 years, 00:21:54.740 --> 00:21:56.720 they have four kids. He became a grandfather 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.559 in 2017. That's a long time in any world, let 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:01.680 alone entertainment. And how did he approach 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:03.859 raising kids, given the content of his early 00:22:03.859 --> 00:22:07.680 music? That's interesting. Back in 2005, he apparently 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:09.759 said he made a point of teaching his kids to 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:12.359 question the violence they see in all media. 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:15.869 Not just rap lyrics, but... Movies, TV, everything. 00:22:16.049 --> 00:22:18.930 So positioning himself as a media critic, not 00:22:18.930 --> 00:22:21.910 just a creator of it. Kind of, yeah. A critical 00:22:21.910 --> 00:22:24.829 perspective on normalization. Now, his religious 00:22:24.829 --> 00:22:28.369 path, that's more complex, not straightforward. 00:22:28.650 --> 00:22:31.740 He converted to Islam. Yes, back in 1990. got 00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:34.660 introduced to the Nation of Islam, the NOI, through 00:22:34.660 --> 00:22:37.019 his connections with Public Enemy. Now, he denies 00:22:37.019 --> 00:22:39.400 being like an official card -carrying member 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:42.619 of the NOI, but he definitely adopted their core 00:22:42.619 --> 00:22:45.200 ideology of black nationalism. You hear it all 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:47.380 over his early solo stuff. But he doesn't strictly 00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:49.720 follow one doctrine. He describes himself as 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:52.059 a natural Muslim. Says he listens to his own 00:22:52.059 --> 00:22:54.299 conscience because ultimately it's just him and 00:22:54.299 --> 00:22:56.420 God. Very individualistic approach. And he's 00:22:56.420 --> 00:22:58.440 made comments suggesting a broader view, too. 00:22:58.700 --> 00:23:01.059 Yeah. In 2017, he said something like he thinks 00:23:01.059 --> 00:23:04.660 religion is stupid, partly, but then clarified, 00:23:04.779 --> 00:23:07.880 saying he's on the Islam tip, but also the Christian 00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:09.940 tip and the Buddhist tip kind of takes elements 00:23:09.940 --> 00:23:12.059 from different places. And he came out in support 00:23:12.059 --> 00:23:15.220 of same -sex marriage back in 2012. So definitely 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:19.259 not adhering to a rigid dogma. OK. This complexity, 00:23:19.299 --> 00:23:22.380 though, it sits alongside probably the most persistent 00:23:22.380 --> 00:23:25.480 criticism he's faced throughout his career. The 00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:28.220 accusations of anti -Semitism, promoting conspiracy 00:23:28.220 --> 00:23:30.859 theories. We need to unpack this carefully, just 00:23:30.859 --> 00:23:33.759 reporting what the sources say. Right. Impartially. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:36.480 The first major incident mentioned goes back 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:38.980 to 1991, around the release of death certificate. 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:41.640 At a press conference, he publicly endorsed a 00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:44.359 Nation of Islam book called The Secret Relationship 00:23:44.359 --> 00:23:46.599 Between Blacks and Jews. And that book makes 00:23:46.599 --> 00:23:48.980 false claims. Yes, it falsely claims that European 00:23:48.980 --> 00:23:51.380 Jews played a dominant role in the Atlantic slave 00:23:51.380 --> 00:23:53.869 trade. endorsing that book put him right in the 00:23:53.869 --> 00:23:55.990 middle of a huge controversy. Then there's the 00:23:55.990 --> 00:23:58.009 No Vaseline track, which we talked about, the 00:23:58.009 --> 00:24:00.069 specific language used against Jerry Heller. 00:24:00.210 --> 00:24:02.250 Yeah, the sources highlight the use of terms 00:24:02.250 --> 00:24:06.150 like white man, Jew, white Jew, devil, directed 00:24:06.150 --> 00:24:09.210 at Heller, alongside the call for violence. That 00:24:09.210 --> 00:24:13.009 language was and is seen as anti -Semitic. And 00:24:13.009 --> 00:24:15.190 this issue didn't just stay in the 90s. It came 00:24:15.190 --> 00:24:18.759 back more recently. Sharply. In 2020, he got 00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:21.079 a lot of criticism for a series of posts on Twitter 00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:23.779 over a single day. He promoted Louis Farrakhan, 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:26.480 the NOI leader, and shared various images and 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:29.700 memes linked to what sources describe as disproven 00:24:29.700 --> 00:24:32.460 anti -Semitic conspiracy theories. So the same 00:24:32.460 --> 00:24:35.819 themes resurfacing decades later on a huge public 00:24:35.819 --> 00:24:38.579 platform. Exactly. Which shows those early ideological 00:24:38.579 --> 00:24:40.599 leanings were still present, still being expressed 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:43.420 publicly. OK, so how has he responded to these 00:24:43.420 --> 00:24:45.579 accusations over the years? It's important to 00:24:45.579 --> 00:24:48.259 include his side as a. His defense has been pretty 00:24:48.259 --> 00:24:50.839 consistent. Back in 2008, he argued he was too 00:24:50.839 --> 00:24:54.440 busy being pro -black to be anti -anybody. That's 00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:56.940 been a recurring theme. And on No Vaseline. As 00:24:56.940 --> 00:24:59.319 we mentioned, that 2015 statement where he regretted 00:24:59.319 --> 00:25:01.940 the specific word Jew, insisting his attack was 00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:03.839 solely on Heller personally and financially. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:06.660 And the 2020 Twitter stuff. His response then 00:25:06.660 --> 00:25:09.039 was more dismissive of the criticism, called 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:10.799 it the hype. So he was just telling his truth. 00:25:11.380 --> 00:25:15.480 So we report. The incidents, the content, the 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:18.440 criticism and his consistent defense. Just laying 00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:20.720 out what the sources present. Hashtag tag outro. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:23.400 All right. So we've traced this incredible arc 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:26.480 decades of Ice Cube. And the picture that emerges 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:30.210 is just full of. Well, contradictions, but also 00:25:30.210 --> 00:25:32.970 brilliant, brilliant adaptation. Definitely. 00:25:32.990 --> 00:25:36.250 On one hand, you've got that raw, uncompromising 00:25:36.250 --> 00:25:38.930 political voice, the guy who defined early gangster 00:25:38.930 --> 00:25:41.990 raps, power and controversy. That legacy is solid 00:25:41.990 --> 00:25:44.650 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Grammy Lifetime Achievement 00:25:44.650 --> 00:25:47.329 for N .W .A. But then there's the other side. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:50.799 The incredibly pragmatic businessman, the entertainer 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:53.220 who crossed every genre line imaginable, used 00:25:53.220 --> 00:25:55.339 his fame to pivot when his music audience shifted, 00:25:55.420 --> 00:25:58.440 and built this massive film and TV empire. Got 00:25:58.440 --> 00:26:00.599 his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017. 00:26:01.140 --> 00:26:03.559 Yeah, Bad Journey. From Doughboy's Tragic Reality 00:26:03.559 --> 00:26:05.960 to Nick Person's Family Avengers and Are We There 00:26:05.960 --> 00:26:08.000 Yet? From being an actual draftsman to founding 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:09.519 the Big Three League. It's like a masterclass 00:26:09.519 --> 00:26:11.779 in American enterprise. Turning rebellion into 00:26:11.779 --> 00:26:14.400 a brand. It really is the ultimate story of turning 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:17.910 revolutionary art into durable commerce. Which 00:26:17.910 --> 00:26:19.809 brings us back to that paradox we hit on earlier. 00:26:19.950 --> 00:26:22.130 Right. The sources clearly state his core political 00:26:22.130 --> 00:26:24.750 rap audience feeded after the Predator in 92, 00:26:25.029 --> 00:26:28.250 right when his commercial music success peaked. 00:26:28.309 --> 00:26:30.809 But his film career exploded right after that. 00:26:30.930 --> 00:26:33.190 So it leaves us with a big question, really. 00:26:33.470 --> 00:26:35.750 Something for you to think about. Does building 00:26:35.750 --> 00:26:39.170 that kind of massive, mainstream, commercially 00:26:39.170 --> 00:26:41.980 safe empire... Does it always mean you have to 00:26:41.980 --> 00:26:44.839 sand down those revolutionary edges, the very 00:26:44.839 --> 00:26:46.599 things that got you noticed in the first place? 00:26:46.779 --> 00:26:51.180 And maybe is that shift from writing about systemic 00:26:51.180 --> 00:26:53.660 injustice on the streets for like thirty two 00:26:53.660 --> 00:26:56.500 thousand dollars to producing family comedies 00:26:56.500 --> 00:26:58.940 and running sports leagues for millions? Is that 00:26:58.940 --> 00:27:01.000 the ultimate definition of American success, 00:27:01.380 --> 00:27:03.359 regardless of what might get lost creatively 00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:05.259 along the way? Something that you want. Definitely. 00:27:05.380 --> 00:27:07.400 Thanks for diving deep with us today. We'll catch 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:08.279 you on the next deep dive.