SOUTH-CENTRAL : Rapper Ice Cube Draws Rapt Crowd

It is the kind of excitement reserved for concerts: hundreds of teen-agers holding hard-to-get tickets crowding around the doors of a small building, hoping to sneak a look at rap artist Ice Cube.

But inside the small gym at Locke High School, there was no music. Instead, students sat quietly as the rapper and actor spoke for nearly an hour last week about the problems facing some rappers, racial tension and gangs.

Surrounded by security guards from the Nation of Islam, Ice Cube spoke briefly Monday about the controversy surrounding Snoop Doggy Dogg, a rapper who has been charged with murder.

“The reason they get mad at the rappers is because (rappers) are talking directly to you,” he said, referring to Snoop Doggy Dogg and other rappers. “We really need to fight this attack.”

While Ice Cube’s appearance at Locke was aimed in part at promoting his new CD “Lethal Injection,” the event represented more than just a celebrity appearance, teachers and students said.

“These kids were willing to do whatever it took to see him,” said Principal Ed Robbs, referring to the requirements students had to meet to attend the concert. “We’ve had celebrities and we do a wall of fame every year, but nothing like this has ever been done.”

With one week’s notice, students were required to show significant improvement in schoolwork in order to get a ticket from their teachers. Robbs said about 400 of the school’s 2,000 students attended.

For Lucas Kay Feinton, 17, and Jacoby McKinney, 15, it was worth the price of admission. “It’s good that he’s here because he’s one of us,” Feinton said. “He’s got knowledge and has all his stuff right.”

Added McKinney: “Some people, when they make money, try and leave the neighborhood, but he stayed. It really means a lot to everyone. These are kids that never go to see a celebrity and everyone knows him around the nation.”

Ice Cube praised the truce between rival gangs in Watts and spoke out against racial violence: “I don’t want to lecture you like some parent. I’m here because you all listen to my records. To the blacks and Chicanos brothers, I want to say, ‘You ain’t the enemy. Not at all, man.’ So we got to understand that.”

While much of the talk focused on the need for more black-owned businesses and economic power, Ice Cube also answered questions students had submitted, such as how old was he when he started rapping. “I started rapping in typing class ‘cause I was bored,” he said, smiling.

For Reggie Andrews, who heads the music department and helped coordinate Ice Cube’s appearance, the noon assembly was unlike anything he has seen at the school.

“I’ve never heard an assembly as quiet,” Andrews said. “He definitely captured their attention and I think that’s because they respect his opinion.”