O'Shea was born on June 15, 1969 in Los Angeles, in the South Central area, the son of Doris Jackson (
née Benjamin), a hospital clerk and custodian, and Hosea Jackson, who worked as a groundskeeper at
UCLA.
[8][9] According to a 2005 interview with Teenink, O'Shea's half-sister was murdered by her boyfriend in a
murder–suicide when he was 12 years old.
[10] His cousins are Teren Delvon Jones, also known as
Del tha Funkee Homosapien, who is a part of the rap group
Hieroglyphics and who has also worked with
Gorillaz; and
Kam of rap group
The Warzone.
[11] In his early teens, Ice Cube developed an interest in hip hop music, and began writing raps in
Taft High School's keyboarding class.
[11] He attended the Phoenix Institute of Technology in the fall of 1987, and studied architectural drafting.
[12] With friend
Sir Jinx, Ice Cube formed the
C.I.A., and they performed at parties hosted by
Dr. Dre. Young Ice Cube met Dr. Dre in 1984, who was 19 at the time. Dre soon entered the recording industry; working on records with the
World Class Wreckin' Cru. Dre saw Cube's potential as a writer and had him assist with writing Wreckin Cru's big L.A. hit track, "Cabbage Patch" as well as joining Cube on a side partnership which the duo called Stereo Crew. Stereo Crew produced a twelve-inch record, "She's a Skag" released on
Epic Records in 1986
