It’s a gift and a curse being the child of a superstar but O’Shea Jackson Jr. is making his own way without eschewing the path that his famous father, Ice Cube paved.
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“[As an actor getting into rap] you can’t really do too much with the lyrics without them typecasting you or forcing you to stay within these general rules because they don’t see you as that no more, so my whole way of getting back into music was I really started taking producing seriously,” Jackson Jr. told the DXLive crew. “Once you make the beats they can’t really be mad at you for the content. I’ve been making beats since I was 15. It’s just something I would to do to keep the brain going and just keep that part of me alive, he added.
Breaking out in Hip Hop is difficult no matter where an aspiring artist is from but it’s exponentially harder when the whole world knows you grew up rich and with the benefits of having a father that happens to be a Hip Hop pioneer. But O’Shea Jackson Jr. took heed to something Chris Rock said back in 2003. “If the beat is alright they’ll dance all night.” Instead of trying to break through the oversaturated Hip Hop landscape as an artist, the Den Of Thieves star is using his production skills to kick in the door.
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The younger O’Shea may not be a household name on the music side of things just yet, but he does have some credits including songs of his own like “OMG” and the collaboration with his father “Reckless In The Booth,” but with the connects he’s made on his rise to big screen fame, he’s now looking to flex on the world with some high powered collabos.
“It’s always within the arts that’s my go to and what I’ve been doing now is getting all the artists that I’ve met over this journey and just being cool with and I got a couple of ‘em to spit over these bars and we’ll possibly get an album out or a compilation,” Jackson Jr. revealed. “My man Method Man said he’d hook me up with a verse so I’ll make sure I get that done. I’m working with my homie Lil Dicky, my homie Big Sean so we’re definitely headed toward something real nice, and I talked to my mom so Ice Cube’s gonna be on it.”
In the meantime and in between time, O’Shea Jackson Jr. is continuing to fill his time being a movie star. After the success of Straight Outta Compton (over $200 million worldwide) and the critical acclaim of Ingrid Goes West showing off his action star chops on Den Of Thieves.
“I really needed a nice bring-in after Ingrid Goes West which was an indie film I did after Straight Outta Compton Jackson Jr. said. “I wanted to get back to the big blockbuster you know, at least some sort of dramatic role. So Den Of Thieves gives you drama and action. [50 Cent and Gerard Butler] are in it so I felt like I was in good hands.”
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Versatility is the key to longevity in the movie industry and O’Shea is making sure that his credits continue to show the range he knows he’s capable of.
“I’m not a one trick pony so I went into the dark comedy with Ingrid Goes West I went into the action with Den Of Thieves and then we’re back to comedy with Flarsky with Seth Rogen coming out, then back to even more action with Godzilla: King of All Monsters so I do does the damn thing.”
Check out the full interview below and be sure to tune in to DXLive every Thursday from 1:00pm-2:00pm EST and the LitnessTest from 6:00pm-7:00pm EST.
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