Copyright Newsweek
Ice Cube's response to backlash over his new song, "Act My Age," has gone viral on social media. Newsweek reached out to Ice Cube's representative via email for comment on Wednesday. Why It Matters The age-based criticism comes after the iconic hip-hop artist made headlines following his crew's tour bus being firebombed in Portland, Oregon. What To Know On October 15, Ice Cube—whose real name is O'Shea Jackson Sr.—released the music video for "Act My Age," featuring Scarface, as part of his latest album Man Up, which dropped on September 12. The music video attracted significant attention both for its humorous visuals—superimposing the artists’ faces onto babies' bodies—and for its content, which challenges stereotypes about older artists in hip-hop. On Monday, X user @FreddieHotSpot criticized the track’s relevance and suggested Ice Cube should "hang the mic up." At the time of publication, the post racked up more than 2.5 million views and 10,000 likes. In response, Ice Cube hit back on the platform: "I would never listen to you and hang up my mic. You’ve obviously lost your sense of humor. You need to go find it and stay out of my business." To date, his reaction has 1.1 million views and 12,000 likes. The lyrics of "Act My Age" begin: "If you’re over 35 and still rapping, keep rapping, my boy. F*** all of that, ‘Oh, I’m getting old’ s***.' No, we need y’all, we need y’all to save music. We need the real lyricists back.” Ice Cube adds: "This is for the Black, white, brown, and beige. Never tell me to act my age. B**** told me to act my age. That's when I let his a** out the cage." The 56-year-old is no stranger to online criticism. In September, Ice Cube responded to a separate X user who criticized his statement about a fire on a tour bus that was linked to him. Reports had alleged that the attack was incited by protesters who associated the vehicle's "ICE" letters with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE]. "Wasn’t my bus. It was a crew bus," Ice Cube said on X. "Parked in front of the hotel. Everybody was upstairs sleeping. Nobody hurt. No equipment damaged. A coward set fire to the bus. My bus was actually in Oakland getting serviced." When @eugenedelgaudio replied, "Posting that this is 'only' the crews bus is absurd on your part," the California native shot back: "'Only' is your words not mine. I was stating the facts. Being in my business is absurd on your part. So STFU [shut the f*** up]…" In a statement to Newsweek, Ice Cube said via his representative, Tresa Sanders: "I'm not taking this incident as a personal attack. A coward like that would burn anybody's property that was out there at the time." What People Are Saying Following the release of Man Up, Ice Cube said in a statement, per Billboard: "I’ve always stood on speaking truth to power and making music that reflects reality. Man Up is about accountability, resilience, and reminding people where the real problems come from. Hip hop didn’t create the struggle—it gave us the language to call it out." What Happens Next
