Rapper Ice Cube Draws Rapt Audience at Locke High

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 in Los Angeles, there was no music. Instead, students sat quietly recently as the rapper and actor spoke for nearly an hour about the problems facing some rappers, racial tension and gangs.

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

“The reason they get mad at the rappers is because (rappers) are talking directly to you,” he said. “We really need to fight this attack because these are our leaders.”

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 to get a ticket from their teachers. Robbs said about 400 of the school’s 2,000 students attended the assembly.

Dressed in black jeans and a black T-shirt, 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 Chicano brothers, I want to say, ‘You ain’t the enemy. Not at all, man.’ ”

‘A lot of the teachers were amazed by how quiet it was in here,” said Reggie Andrews, who heads the music department. “I’ve never heard an assembly as quiet.”