We Can Thank Ice Cube’s Freshman Year Typing Class for All He’s Given Us

Ice Cube is responsible for some of the greatest songs in the history of rap, whether it be as a member of N.W.A, when he penned the classic “Straight Outta Compton”; or as a solo artist, when he wrote “Today Was a Good Day.” On Wednesday’s Live, Cube was asked about the first rap he ever wrote, and it turns out it all goes back to Cube’s freshman year of high school, when a classmate challenged him to write a rap in typing class. That’s right, typing class. With typewriters, if you can remember those.

N.W.A. at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony April 8, 2016. (Photo: AP Images)
N.W.A. at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony April 8, 2016. (Photo: AP Images)

“I didn’t think I really wanted to take this class. So I had another guy in there with me, and he was like, ‘Have you ever wrote a rap before?’ I said, ‘No.’ He’s like, ‘You write one. I’ll write one. We’ll see which one’s the best,’” Cube said.

In the 30-some years since his typing classmate threw down the gauntlet, Ice Cube has sold millions of albums and starred in dozens of movies, and he was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. So it should be fairly easy to guess how this turned out.

“At the end of the class, mine was the best. I don’t think he ever rapped again. I just kept on and on and on, and it all just snowballed into this. So thank you, kiddo,” Cube said.

Check out Ice Cube’s new Hip Hop-alarious show ‘Hip Hop Squares’:

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