O'Shea Jackson Jr. (born February 24, 1991), also known by the stage name OMG, is an American actor, rapper and songwriter. He is the oldest son of Ice Cube and, in his feature film debut, he portrayed his father in the 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton.[1]
Early life
Jackson was born in Los Angeles, California, to O'Shea Jackson Sr., better known as Ice Cube, and Kimberly Woodruff. Jackson was raised in the San Fernando Valley, and is the oldest of four children. He has two younger brothers, Darrell and Shareef, and a younger sister, Kareema.[2] Darrell is also a rapper under the name Doughboy, which is the nickname of the character his father portrayed in his first film, Boyz n the Hood. Jackson attended William Howard Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, from which he graduated in 2009. His father also attended Taft High School.[3] Jackson attended the University of Southern California, where he studied screenwriting, but dropped out to pursue his acting career.[4][5]
Career
Film
In June 2014, it was announced that Jackson had been cast to portray his father, Ice Cube, in Straight Outta Compton, a biographical film about N.W.A.[1] The film was released on August 14, 2015, to positive reviews. Jackson is noted for his physical resemblance to his father, which Ice Cube described to Jimmy Kimmel in October 2014 as "spot-on. He was born to play the part."[6]
Jackson appears in two May 2019 movies. He has a supporting role as Lance in the romantic comedy Long Shot alongside Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen, playing the best friend of Rogen's character. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, he portrays Barnes, the leader of the G-Team, the special military forces group run specializing in battles involving Titans.[10][11]
After four years away from films, in 2023 he made his return in the dark comedy film Cocaine Bear as Daveed.
Music
In 2010, Jackson and his brother Darrell were featured on the songs "She Couldn't Make It On Her Own" and "Y'all Know How I Am", from their father's album I Am the West.
In March 2012, Jackson, under the name OMG, released his first mixtape, Jackin' for Beats, online. Jazmine Gray of Vibe said, "True to its title, the hip-hop rookie offers his own lyrics over the beats of some of the most popular tracks of the year. The 10-track tape finds the son of a hip hop icon off to a promising start."[12]
In an interview with XXL Magazine, Jackson said that "Some people say I sound like OMG. No one has compared me or tried to match me up with other artists."[13]
In 2015, Jackson appeared in Pia Mia's music video for her song "Touch". He also appeared in American hip hop duo Twenty88's music video, "Out of Love", promoting their self-titled debut extended play.[14]
Television
On February 6, 2018, Jackson played hip hop legend Kool Herc in a segment of Drunk History.[15] On October 4, 2019, Jackson made a guest appearance on the debut of WWE Smackdown on Fox.[16]
Jackson starred opposite Dave Franco in the comedy series The Now.[17] It was originally set to be released on Quibi, but was ultimately released on The Roku Channel on December 10, 2021.
In the 2021 basketball drama show, Swagger, Jackson plays Ike Edwards, a former rising star who struggles to coach a young high-stake basketball team. [18] The series premiered on October 29, 2021 on Apple TV+.
