Hear Ice Cube on the Origins of ‘Fuck tha Police,’ N.W.A’s Founding and More

The latest episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast revisits a wide-ranging 2015 cover-story interview with Ice Cube, where he looked back at the origins of “Fuck Tha Police” (which is currently seeing surging streaming numbers in the wake of worldwide Black Lives Matter protests), went deep on his childhood and the early days of N.W.A, reminisced about his time with the late Eazy-E, reflected on his own formative experiences with police harassment, discussed the making of the Straight Outta Compton film, and much more.

(Shortly after this episode was posted, Ice Cube posted a bizarre series of conspiratorial tweets that sparked accusations of anti-Semitism, which he, in turn, denied.)

To hear the entire interview, press play below or download and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Spotify.

Download and subscribe to our weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on iTunes or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts), and check out two years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth, career-spanning interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Halsey, Neil Young, the National, Questlove, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, Donald Fagen, Phil Collins, Alicia Keys, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, Gary Clark Jr., and many more — plus dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters. Tune in every Friday at 1 p.m. ET to hear Rolling Stone Music Now broadcast live from SiriusXM’s studios on Volume, channel 106.