Why Ice Cube Left N.W.A.

March 2024 · 2 minute read

Thanks to their 1988 debut album, "Straight Outta Compton," as well as the controversial subject matter of songs like "F*** tha Police," N.W.A. had quickly established itself as an up-and-coming name in the hip-hop scene. People were buying their albums and showing up to their concerts in full force, many of them identifying with the gritty lyrics and themes. But it seemed that there were only two people who were enjoying the financial spoils of N.W.A.'s early success — Eazy-E and the group's manager, Jerry Heller. 

Ice Cube was quick to notice this, and in the "Straight Outta Compton" biopic, where he was played by his son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Cube looks bemused upon seeing Heller (Paul Giamatti) and Eazy (Jason Mitchell) dining on lobster. It's not depicted in the film, but at that time, Cube was still living with his parents — not what you'd expect from an up-and-coming rapper whose group has just released a massively popular album. Heller and Eazy, meanwhile, were living the high life, driving fancy cars and buying large mansions.

Speaking to The Guardian, Cube explained that it was his publicist, Pat Charbonnet, who helped him realize that "the situation with [N.W.A.'s record label] Ruthless and Jerry Heller just wasn't right." The next step for him was to go solo, but what about that scene in the film where Cube actually quits the group?

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