How Ice Cube Builds Unstoppable Momentum in Just 11 Minutes!

You know, the quality has always have to be bumped up. Right. I'm always trying to make sure more quality, more quality, more quality. Now most actors are just sitting around waiting for somebody to say, "Hey, you wanna be in my movie?" So I don't like that. Play hard, man. That's the values we give 'em. Play hard. All my records aren't message-driven records. All my albums aren't message-driven albums. The beauty of Straight Outta Compton is not that Some Academy members get it, you know, because they would get anything you throw in front of them. There's 24 hours in the day. You can do whatever you want with them.

The question is, are we rock and roll?

I mean, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, wouldn't they piss you off?

He's an American rapper, record producer, actor, and film producer. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group CIA and later joined the seminal rap group N.W.A. He's noted as a proficient lyricist and storyteller and regarded as a brutally honest rapper. He's Ice Cube, and here's my take on his top 10 rules for success. Rule number 1 is my personal favorite, but I'm curious to find out which one you guys like most.

What is the key to your success, you think? Because you've had a lot of wins, man. A lot of, a lot of wins. Um, You know, I guess respecting what I'm doing more than getting a win, you know what I mean? I, I love to work. I love to actually get in there and create and make something good, take something out the back of my mind and, and give it a physical form and let people enjoy it is really what I get off on. So to, to do that, to be in that mix, you know, the quality has always have to be bumped up. I'm always trying to make sure more quality, more quality, more quality. You know, throughout the whole project, I'm the king of quality control.

Are you really?

Yes. And I'm doing my career my way. Um, you know, being able to put together your own movies is a blessing. You know, most actors are just sitting around waiting for somebody to say, hey, you want to be in my movie? So I, I don't like that. I wouldn't I wouldn't be an actor if I was just sitting around. So I love producing, I love writing, and just making sure it happens. You know, you gotta be proactive. Play hard, man. That's the values we give them. Play hard. And hey, man, be yourself. You know, in this world when everybody wants you to be, you know, to conform to this, conform to that, man, my whole thing is be yourself, man. You know, everybody's an individual. We all got different fingerprints, different DNA. Yo, man, we should just show how different we are, man. Just be yourself. A message is, you know, to me, only as good as the person delivering it. So, you know, the thing is, I want to evolve to the point where people are hearing me, you know what I mean? I don't want to evolve past the point of people hearing what I got to say, hearing my message in whatever the particular record you listening to, 'cause all my records aren't message-driven records. All my albums aren't message-driven albums, you know. I wouldn't call I Am the West a message-driven album, you know what I mean? I would call Raw Footage a message-driven album. So it depends on how I feel. But I think, you know, I just don't wanna evolve past people hearing what I gotta say, 'cause, you know, to me that's not evolving, resolve, you know. So it's really all about making sure that people are hearing you. And so you got to do what you got to do in this climate to make sure you heard. The beauty of Straight Outta Compton is not that some Academy members get it, you know, because they would get anything you throw in front of them. They don't know if this is authentic or not, right? It's the hardcore fans, you know what I mean? It's the core fans are the ones who let you know if you got it right. When they say, man, you took me back to '87, man, I felt like, man, I could smell, you know, the, the, the weed. Yeah.

You know, the weed.

I went for the weed instead of whatever else you was thinking. But, but, but that's cool. But you know, it was like, that's, that's what it's all about.

Yeah.

It's all about the core fans and making sure they satisfied. And then the fans, the fringe fans, Fans, they, they got, they got to get in where they fit in with me, you know what I mean? They just got to get in where they fit in. I'm not going to cater too much to a fringe fan as much as a core fan. That's probably the key to your success right there too. At least one of them is just like focusing on— I don't reach, you know, I'm not reaching, cuz you reach so far for that new fan and you come attached or detached yourself from the Korphan. We said you're about to witness the strength of street knowledge, meaning you are about to witness, you know, uh, a knowledge coming off the streets or out the streets that you may not have ever witnessed before. We just wanted to be real. We just wanted to be honest. Street knowledge is a term to me, it means letting the streets know what the government, politics, police, whatever authority figures are, are doing, up to, uh, exposing them. And also letting who— if the politicians are listening, letting them know what the streets think and how things are going. And hopefully there's some understanding that can be made. In all this. And you got to bring an effort to the table. You can't look for the world to, uh, make your life better. You got to make your life better. You got to bring in them grades. You got to do that work. And it's hard work doing everything that we do. Nothing's easy, not even for a rapper, movie actor, whatever you want to do it. It's all hard. And there's times where I don't want to get up and I don't want to do it, but I gotta do it because this is my life. And you got to make those choices and And you know, like I said, and I'm in my little spiel right here, there's 24 hours in a day. You can do whatever you want with them, whatever you want. You can waste them or you can do something that's gonna help your life because you will grow up. Everybody here will grow up and you will have to deal with all the problems that all the grown people around you are telling you that you're gonna have to deal with. It's no fairy tale, it's no lie. It's hard out there. Love is, uh, one of them underrated joints on the second side. Definitely, you know, but, uh, it just comes, man. Tell them, tell them the flavor of it because it just, it's one of them, it's one of them slow, slow flows, you know, that everybody into. Yeah, so a lot of people, when I played it for them, they didn't know that was me. They was like, who is that? You know, I was like, yo, that's me. You always got to give people what they don't expect.

The question is, are we rock and roll? And I say you're goddamn right we rock and roll. See, rock and roll is not an instrument. Rock and roll is not even a style of music. Rock and roll is a spirit. It's a spirit. It's been going since the blues. Jazz, bebop, soul, R&B, rock and roll, heavy metal, punk rock, and yes, hip-hop. And what connects us all is that spirit. That's what connects us all, that spirit. Rock and roll is not conforming to the people who came before you, but creating your own path in music and in life. That is rock and roll, and that is us. So, Rock and roll is not conforming. Rock and roll is outside the box. And rock and roll is N.W.A. I want to thank everybody who helped induct us into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And I just want to tell the world, damn, that shit was dope.

Thank you.

You are very good at seeming angry. I don't know if you are angry in general. But in the movies, in 21 and 22 Jump Street—

Yeah.

You're disgusted with.

I mean, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum? Wouldn't they piss you off?

So I thought it would be fun if I gave you— I give you some lines. Now, these are not lines that you would not classify these lines as your typical, like, kind of angry guy lines. In fact, they're quite the opposite of that. OK. And I'll read them to you. And then if you act them back to me, in your own inimitable way, OK? OK. You want to do that?

Here we go.

All right, say these as angrily as you can. Lavender body wash makes my pores tingle.

Lavender body wash make my pores tingle. I like it already.

There's nothing better on a gloomy day than a good book a warm blanket, and a creamy pumpkin bisque.

Man, there's nothing better on a gloomy day than a warm— what was it? A good blanket, a warm— man, give me some damn pumpkin bisque.

All right.

You know I went to the LA Unified School District, so I can't read that good.

You know what?

You did it well.

You did it well. All right.

All right.

Here's another one for you. I want a love like the love in The Notebook, a love that splits the sky.

I want a love like the love in The Notebook, the one that split the sky, man.

Split the sky.

This is wonderful. And this is great for young actors as well. It's an exercise.

All right.

One more. You ready?

Let's do it.

OMG. Did you do something new with your hair? I love it.

OMG. Did you do something with your hair?

I love it.

Love it.

That's Ice Cube, everybody.

That's acting right there.

Thank you so much for watching. I made this video because Marcel Williams asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur that you want me to profile next, leave it down in the comments below, and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know which of Ice Cube's top 10 rules had the biggest impact on you and why. Leave it in the comments and I will join in the discussion. Thank you so much for watching. Continue to believe, and I'll see you soon.