NO. 8 - THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN HIP HOP

By Nick Kaoma

ICE CUBE (O’Shea Jackson)
Dollar Status - $145 million (R1 billion)
Portfolio – Cubevision, Lench Mob Records, NWA royalties etc

Ice Cube, known to his mother as Oshea Jackson, was first introduced to the world as the loudmouthed jerry-curled bad-ass from the group that shook white America more than Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s regimes put together, NWA.

Though after finding out that Dr. Dre and Eazy E were short-changing him, he left the group that he helped catapult to mainstream status in a pissed off state. That unfortunate event, however, served as a catalyst for the mini-empire that he sits atop of.

After releasing a couple of critically and commercially acclaimed solo album in the late 80’s and early 90’s, the surprisingly shrewd Ice Cube decided to sow his royal oats in Hollywood where he quickly gained prominence with credible and stirring performances in major blockbusters such as Boyz In Da Hood, the Friday franchise, Anaconda and Three Kings, to name but a few.

After learning the ways of the slick Hollywood machine, Cube promptly set up Cubevision, a film production house that has been responsible for a slew of hits such as the Barbershop franchise, Are We There yet, and XXX: State of the Union which helped studios such as New Line Cinema and Columbia Pictures bank more than $250 million.

Cube further displayed his new found business swagger when he self-funded his 8th solo album, Laugh Now Cry Later, through his own record label Lench Mob Records. Without any assistance from a major record company, Cube managed to push the album past gold (500 000 copies sold) status in the US alone.

Now that’s what you call a Nigga Wit’ An Attitude.