One constant thread throughout Ice Cube’s career is that he’s meticulous about his money and the funds of those around him. This trait led him to leave the biggest group in hip-hop in the world at the time, and it also almost led to him taking a man’s life.
via: Page Six
In a new interview, rapper Ice Cube — né O’Shea Jackson Sr. — admits he nearly killed a neighbor for swindling his mother out of $20.
“Somebody I knew and went to school with — who we knew was heavy on drugs — had went around to my house and gave my mother some cockamamie story, so she gave him $20, and I was so mad,” Cube, 52, explained on “In Depth with Graham Bensinger.”
“You violated me and my family,” he went on, “because you knew you wasn’t ever going to give that $20 back. So, me and friends was going around the corner to kill him, and he wasn’t home. Thank God.”
“Thank God he wasn’t home,” the “Fist Fight” actor repeated while reflecting on his youthful impulses. “We were young and we was mad and we had a weapon and it was going to happen.”
“It would’ve been stupid, and I wouldn’t be sitting here if it did happen.”
When asked if he considers how his life would’ve turned out had he gone through with it, the hip-hop icon added, “Yes, I do. Like I said, I’m glad he wasn’t there, because nobody should die over $20.”
The incident happened shortly before Cube joined NWA, whose success came as a shock to many, including the future film star.
“It blew up. You know, so we were basically amazed as everybody else at the success of NWA, because at the time, it was just against the grain,” he told Jalen Rose on his “Renaissance Man” podcast for the Post last month.
“Not too many people was doing hip-hop in that style, and were … not underground, you know, artists. It was amazing to see that it took off that big again and then we was on the ride.
“You know, it’s like being on a roller coaster,” he added. “Thirty-five-year roller coaster ride that hasn’t stopped yet.”
It’s safe to say Ice Cube wouldn’t have gone on to be a genre-defining artist-turned-actor/media mogul if he would’ve followed through with the act.
