Ice Cube Gets Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Today (June 12) was definitely a good day for Ice Cube, as the rap veteran, actor and producer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Cube’s star was unveiled in front of the Musicians Institute on Hollywood Boulevard with fans, celebrities and gatekeepers from the movie and music industries on hand for the ceremony. Of those in attendance was rapper WC, who formed Westside Connection with Ice Cube and called his longtime collaborator a “musical genius.”

Cube’s star is 2,614th since the Walk of Fame was first completed in 1961 with the first 1,558 stars.

The ceremony was held three days after the release of the 25th anniversary edition of his second solo album Death Certificate. The new version of the album contains three previously unreleased songs.

Ice Cube (whose real name is O’Shea Jackson) first gained fame as a rapper and songwriter with trailblazing Los Angeles-based rap group N.W.A. in the late 1980s. He wrote the lyrics for Eazy-E’s runaway hit song “Boyz N the Hood,” as well as “Straight Outta Compton” and “Gangsta, Gangsta” and “Express Yourself.”

After the group’s second album, he parted ways to pursue a solo career and released his first solo album in 1990, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted.

Cube began acting with the 1991 film Boyz n the Hood, followed by acting and producing in Friday, Barbershop, Are We There Yet? and Ride Along franchises. He was also a producer of the 2015 N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton.

Just last week, he dropped new video “Good Cop Bad Cop.” Putting the scope on crooked and racist police, the new track was recorded for the re-release of his classic album, Death Certificate. The new release titled Death Certificate: 25th Anniversary Edition dropped Friday (June 9) with three new tracks to accompany the 1991 masterpiece by the NWA rhymer.

On the T-Mix produced track, Ice Cube picked things up where he left off and raps about crooked officers, spitting,

“F%ck a black and white when they ain’t actin’ right/ Good cop, good cop fillin’ out your report / Bad cop asking you to distort / Bad cop asking you to lie in court /Send another young brother up north / Send another young sister off course / While these motherf*****s chill on the golf course.”

Besides “Good Cop Bad Cop,” other new tracks for the album are “Only One Me” and “Dominate The Weak.”