Ice Cube isn’t motivated by awards.
The 47-year-old rapper-turned-actor produced the widely acclaimed ‘Straight Outta Compton’ in 2015 and although the movie was largely overlooked at the Academy Awards last year, Cube has insisted he wasn’t particularly bothered by the lack of recognition.
He said: "I don’t put a lot of weight into these kind of things, awards. I believe art is art and you just do your best and do what inspires you, for the world to see, love, like or hate.
"But I know how invested people in the movie industry are in the Oscars and the Golden Globes, so I felt badly for our crew and our cast and our director and our movie studio."
‘Straight Outta Compton’ told the story of Cube’s rap group N.W.A. and he said he was delighted to simply get the movie made in the first place.
Cube told TheStar.com: "I never did that movie for nominations. To me, I won the Oscar when I was able to release that movie at Universal the way I wanted it to go, to shoot the movie the way I wanted it shot and to edit the movie the way I wanted to edit it.
"To me, that’s the Oscar when you can do your own life story in the way you saw it and the way you feel it. So, I’m never as mad as most people are. But I understand the argument, and I support people who want to be seen and heard and recognised."
Meanwhile, Cube also claimed he was unconcerned by the diversity issue that continues to surround the Oscars, saying he feels no differently about the annual awards bash this year than he did in 2016.
Asked whether he feels better about there being increased levels of diversity at the upcoming event, Cube said: "Not really. I don’t feel better or worse or anything.
"I feel like these are great movies, great actors, great crew and technicians and they deserve a nomination. So I’m happy that people are being recognised. This is a good thing."
Ice Cube: I’m not motivated by awards
