Ice Cube Explains Origin Of His Rap Name On ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’
By Gil Kaufman
Ever wonder how Ice Cube got his rap name? Ever wonder what Stephen Colbert’s hip-hop moniker might be? Those questions, plus many more were answered when the N.W.A legend swung by The Late Show on Tuesday night (June 20) to talk about the 25th-anniversary reissue of his Death Certificate solo album, his 3-on-3 professional basketball league and the strange but true tale of how O’Shea Jackson got so ice cold.
Re-telling the by-now-familiar-to-fans tale, Cube said he got the name when he was around 13 years-old from his older brother, Clyde. “I used to try to talk to his girlfriends when they called and he got tired,” he said. “Back in those days when you wanted to throw out an old refrigerator you’d dump it on the curb and someone would come pick it up,” he explained. “Well, my brother was like, ‘Yo, that refrigerator down the street? I’m gonna take you down there, I’m slammin’ you in the freezer and when they pull you out you’re gonna be an ice cube.'”
And that’s how legends are born. But because Cube is a believer in paying it forward, when Colbert asked if he could bestow a rap name on him, the legendary MC was more than happy to oblige.
“You gotta lean into it, you can’t play with it,” Cube counseled. “Most guys, when they do a rap name, guys like yourself, they’ll say ‘my name is SC,’ or something real weak like that. But I’mma call you Daddy Colbert. Daddy Colbert, that’s dope. And if you really wanna lean into it, you go to Pimp Daddy Colbert.”
Watch the whole exchange below:
This article was originally published on Billboard.
This post Ice Cube Explains Origin Of His Rap Name On ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ first appeared on Vibe.
