Ice Cube: How Bye, Felicia got into Straight Outta Compton

Ice Cube has left many marks on the pop culture zeitgeist in his 30 years of rapping and acting. But his most lingering legacy might be a throwaway line from the movie Friday: “Bye, Felicia.” The quote pops up everywhere from Empire to Internet message boards, and has become the primary means of dismissing an unwanted acquaintance. It even pops up in the recent Ice Cube and N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton.

“I would say the audience reacted bigger to that moment than anything when I saw Star Wars,” Seth Meyers told Ice Cube in their Wednesday night interview.

Ice Cube explained to Meyers that the inclusion of the line was actually O’Shea Jackson, Jr.’s idea.

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“My son came up with it on the day,” Ice Cube said. “We were shooting the scene, and this girl’s name was Felicia. My son was like, ‘Dad, it would be perfect if we went back to what everybody’s saying.’ It was his idea. It was perfect.”

Watch the clip below.