The news that Ice Cube would soon be appearing in 21 Jump Street alongside Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum has sparked renewed interest in the man’s singular legacy, inspiring me to create this slide show.  Before we start, I want to let you know that I’m not here to throw around words like “sellout”.  That’s an easy accusation to make when you’re poor, and real talk, I would eat a cat turd for ten dollars.  Not that money is its own excuse, because hey, child pornographers make money too, and they don’t get to use the “don’t hate the playa” defense.

Point is, I’m not here to judge. Everyone does embarrassing things for money from time to time.  Heck, I write a blog.  I’m just fascinated by the evolution of Ice Cube’s public image.  To paraphrase my hetero life partner, Burnsy, “20 years ago I would’ve pissed my pants if Ice Cube made eye contact with me, and now I want to put my ice cream cone on his head.”

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According to TMZ, a Southern Califonia man confessed to writing the Bow Wow vehicle Lottery Ticket in recently-filed court documents in L.A. County.  Bail has not been set.

The man filing the lawsuit is Tom Huang — who once wrote an episode of “The Mullets” back in 2003.
According to legal documents, Huang claims he came up with an idea for a movie back in 2004, wrote a “treatment” for it … and talked it over with his agent Brad Kaplan.
But in the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in L.A. County Superior Court, Huang claims Kaplan “stole” the idea and gave it to one of his clients named Erik White .. who went on to write and direct “Lottery Ticket.”
Huang claims “Lottery Ticket” ripped off all sorts of elements from his movie — including “detailed plot elements, characters, and scenes.” Huang is suing for an undisclosed amount — but states in the lawsuit that he believes “Lottery Ticket” will rake in millions … so it’s safe to say he’s gonna want a ton of cash.

My sources say Huang went on to claim that White not only stole from him, but just hung out in his store all day reading magazines like it was a god d*mned library.  Anyway, if Huang has proof at all, this should be an open and shut case, as a plot like this is unmistakable:

Kevin Carson (Bow Wow), a young man living in the projects, wins $370 million in a nationwide lottery. When his opportunistic neighbors discover he has the winning ticket in his possession, Kevin must survive their greedy and sometimes even threatening actions over a three—day holiday weekend before he can claim his prize.

I’d like to believe this plagiarism story isn’t true, because I simply refuse to believe that a person would stoop so low as to steal a maltese falcon’s fabergé egg of an idea such as this.

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If you haven’t been watching the 30 for 30 series of documentaries on ESPN, you’re either way too cool or you’re totally missing out.  My favorite thus far was The U, because I like watching guys hump the air after they make a big sack.  Anyway, Ice Cube directed a documentary about the Raiders, Straight Outta LA, which recently premiered at Tribeca and hits ESPN next month.

When N.W.A. was forming in the mid-1980s, they didn’t care much for the colorful Troop suits then being worn by rappers such as LL Cool J.

Aw sh*t, son, you better take your ass back to NCIS.

For years, Raiders apparel would be synonymous with N.W.A. and gangsta rap.  “It was a team we could identify with, from the neighborhood that we came from,” says Cube. “The Lakers was real glitzy and glamour; the Dodgers were seen as a little out of reach. But the Raiders, it seemed like my uncles played for the Raiders.”

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Ice Cube must have a really good agent.  It’s only taken him a few years to go from streetwise gangsta to Eddie Murphy with a speech impediment. An impressive feat. His next project is called Ride Along. Oh Please be a fish out-of-water comedy pleasebeafishoutofwatercomedy pleasebeafishoutofwatercomedy...

Cube will play a rogue cop with a soft spot for his sister. When she reveals she’s engaged to an upper-crust white psychiatrist, the cop sets out to destroy the relationship by inviting his future brother-in-law on a ride-along. [Variety]

YAY!  Quick, someone get Johnny Knoxville on the phone!

The only surprising thing about an NWA biopic is that no one’s made one yet. On that note, prepare to be, uh, surprised no longer.

“New Line is developing Straight Outta Compton, an urban drama about N.W.A. (a.k.a. Niggaz With Attitude).  The project will chronicle the rise and fall of the rap quartet, founded by Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and MC Ren, whose songs were so incendiary (i.e. “F— tha Police”) they were banned from radio playlists but still sold millions of albums. Then came the inevitable fiery breakup, a grudge match between the former bandmates, and Eazy-E’s tragic death due to AIDS. The film’s producers, which include Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Tomica Wright (Eazy-E’s widow), and Circle of Confusion entertainment, are now actively searching for a director along the lines of Curtis Hanson (8 Mile).” [HollywoodInsider]

8 Mile is a guilty pleasure of mine (“Ah heard yer a real dope rapper”) and I love NWA. One of the side effects of being white is that I’m unable to appreciate rap until five or six years after it comes out.  However, Ice Cube playing himself could be a problem.  As commenter Burnsy once so succinctly put it, “It’s amazing that 20 years ago I would have sh*t my pants if Ice Cube made eye contact with me and now I’d like to put my ice cream cone on his head.”  Hey, maybe Fred Durst could direct.  *fart sound*