NWA was the result of members of already established Los Angeles groups such as CIA and The World Class Wreckin' Cru uniting to form a supergroup of sorts. Ice Cube was a central figure as early as 1987 writing "House Calls" and "The Cabbage Patch" for The World Class Wreckin Cru as well as Eazy E's earliest singles such as "Boyz In The Hood," "Fat Girl" and "L.A. Is The Place."

Once NWA was established as a group and Ice Cube became a member, Cube's pen was still a major part of the group on songs like "Dope Man" and the infamous "Fuck The Police." NWA's popularity was at an all-time high by 1989 due to the release of 1988's Straight Outta Compton. The newly formed Yo! MTV Raps was a huge supporter of the group and their videos, conducting exclusive interviews with them on air. By the end of 1989 Ice Cube had done some investigation and discovered some issues with the way that the group was getting paid.

Cube discussed his exit from the group on an episode of Drink Champs, where he said that conversations with NWA's publicist who later became his manager first made him aware of the contractual issues with the group.

"As soon as she saw the name Jerry Heller (Eazy E's partner in Ruthless Records) she asked did I know who he was" Cube explained. "I said I don't know him, it's someone Eazy brought around. She knew his history and asked if we signed contracts with him. I didn't even really know her that good and she was telling me about him. I needed to watch everybody." Cube then said he was using the "good game" that she provided and that he shared it with his group mates. Ice Cube had written a great portion of Straight Outta Compton as well as Eazy E's Eazy Duz It. Both albums sold several million, and Cube wanted to know where the money was. Instead of paying, Heller presented the group with contracts. "In the movie (Straight Outta Compton), it don't show that I went to Ren and told him not to sign nothin'. They clowned me for not signing that $75,000 contract."

Cube told Club Shay Shay that he felt that Jerry Heller managing the group and co-owning Ruthless Records was a conflict of interest. "Jerry Heller was so close to owning and running Ruthless with Eazy, that he would look out for him and not really NWA," Cube said. The D.O.C. who also wrote for Eazy E and NWA called Ice Cube the spirit of the group. "I thought that they lost it when Cube left. He was the spirit of the group", he said. "It wasn't just the writing, it was his energy and the angle that he used to approach the songs." In an interview with HipHopDX The D.O.C. said that Cube's leaving over mismanagement of finances was prophetic. "He wanted to know where the business was and, to his credit, he stepped out on his own and made it do what it do.", he said. "Really, when you think about it, that’s a seminal moment, because Cube’s leaving was a precursor to everybody else. I mean, it just showed that both Jerry Heller and Eazy just had a lack of vision, because you had it all and let it get away like that."

Ice Cube has said that leaving NWA was his biggest career risk. “It could have went all bad from there after reaching the mountain top and you just kind of throw yourself off,” Cube told HipHopDx. “So that could have went bad, but it taught me how to trust myself, trust what I see and what I believe. And I was dedicated to not letting this business change who I am.”