As a newly-minted pubescent, Jackson’s burgeoning rap skills had as much flair as his Michael Jackson-inspired jheri curl (he admitted much later that he and his friends would run home to catch the “Thriller” video back in 1983 and -84). O’Shea found out that he also had a flair for penning dope rhymes and began writing raps in Taft High School’s keyboarding class.
In a twist that probably surprises fans of the hardcore gangsta rapper from the streets, O’Shea attended the Phoenix Institute of Technology in the fall of 1987, studying architectural drafting. With friend Sir Jinx, Ice Cube formed the group C.I.A. (Cru in Action), and they performed at parties hosted by close friend Andre Young (Dr. Dre). Young Cube met Dr. Dre in 1983, who was nineteen at the time. Dre soon entered the recording industry involved with the World Class Wrecking Cru recording records. Dre saw Cube’s potential as a writer and had him helping Dre in writing Wreckin Cru’s big L.A. hit track, “Cabbage Patch,” as well as joining Cube on a side partnership the duo called Stereo Crew by which they produced a twelve-inch record, “She’s a Skag” released on Epic Records in 1986.
