Ice Cube, aka O'Shea Jackson, multimillion-selling artist and the godfather of gangsta rap, has catalogued America's failings in blistering verbal attacks that have inspired and influenced a generation.

Ice Cube: Well, the city is pretty and ugly at the same time. It gives us a place to be creative, to live out our dreams; it can also be a place of heartbreak, a place of a lot of pain and confusion.