FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — One of the unspoken truths about the Tortuga Music Festival is that while its country-music firepower is undeniable, some of its best moments have come in the frenzy of fans who pack stages for party-rap performers such as Flo Rida, Nelly, Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg and Ludacris.

The free-spirited sandbox that Tortuga creates on the beach in Fort Lauderdale has proven to be the perfect place for both 20-somethings and their parents to sing along to old-school anthems such as “Low” (Flo Rida), “Hot In Herre” (Nelly), “Black and Yellow” (Wiz Khalifa), “Drop It Like It’s Hot” (Snoop Dogg) and “Roll Out” (Ludacris).

But where does rapper-actor-entrepreneur Ice Cube fit in?

The co-founder of the hard-edged Compton rap group N.W.A. burst onto the music scene with landmark 1988 gangsta-rap album “Straight Outta Compton,” featuring controversial songs such as “Gangsta Gangsta,” “Dopeman” and “F— tha Police.” These songs were among the most performed numbers during Ice Cube’s Truth to Power: 4 Decades of Attitude tour last fall, his first headlining trek in more than 10 years.

In decades of recordings and dozens of films, including comedy hits such as “Friday,” “Barbershop” and the “Ride Along” series, he has continued to perfect the role of scowling tough guy. Ice Cube definitely doesn’t seem interested in joining Snoop Dogg in a kitchen cameo with Martha Stewart anytime soon.

But he’s planning to keep things light during his opening-night set at Tortuga on Friday, April 10.

“We’re gonna keep it fun and have a good time. The grooves I got, people been listening to their whole life. I come from the sample era, so we gonna pull out the grooves, the hits, and have a good time,” he says, speaking by phone from his home in Los Angeles.

While he’s “definitely a beach guy,” he says he won’t claim to be a serious fan of country music, though his record collection does include music by Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash.

He’s looking forward to performing live by the ocean in Fort Lauderdale, which will come just before Friday night’s headlining set from one-time rap star Post Malone.

“That’s the best part, because it’s the instant gratification of the work,” he says. “I guess maybe going to a movie premiere is the same feeling. You’re presenting your work and you’re getting real-time feedback from the audience. There’s no better feeling. You celebrate these records that you did years ago, and the audience loves it, and y’all have a party together.”

Rap in the mainstream

After 50 years, rap and hip-hop music seem to be near the apex of their popularity — see the halftime shows at the two most recent Super Bowls by Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny. While each of those performances was artistically extraordinary, their message was lost on many in postgame reviews.

Cube says mainstream sports fans — he is famously a longtime supporter of the Las Vegas Raiders (beginning when they were in Los Angeles) and is a co-founder of the Big3 basketball league — were not ready for that level of showmanship and aspiration.

‘Everybody wants artists to [have a message] until they do something that they don’t like, right?’ — Ice Cube

He likens it to his own relationship with jazz: He loves the greats, but admits to being challenged by Thelonious Monk.

“I’m pretty sure Kendrick, if he wanted to, could have did a pretty mainstream type show, but he didn’t want to do that,” Ice Cube says, laughing. “Everybody wants artists to [have a message] until they do something that they don’t like, right?”

As for Bad Bunny’s 13-minute celebration of Puerto Rico, he admired the ambition and the story the rapper was trying to tell, but he doesn’t speak Spanish and had a hard time following along.

“The set design was amazing. The music was good. I just couldn’t understand it, right?” he says.

Important music

“Straight Outta Compton” remains one of the definitive albums in the genre, and in 2016 was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, among works cited for their “cultural, artistic and historical importance to American society and the nation’s audio heritage.”

Ice Cube says that anyone interested in researching the most “cutting-edge” music of the gangsta rap era and the society that produced it should start with N.W.A. and “Compton.”

“All records are time capsules. So if you want to have a look into the late ’80s, that’s one of the records you should listen to, to feel certain aspects of the community,” he says.

A first-person document of life in neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles, “Compton” is filled with vulgarity, slurs and menace — the exception being the uplifting “Express Yourself,” with lyrics by Ice Cube over an irresistible sample from a 1970 song of the same name by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band.

The protest song “F— tha Police” got N.W.A. banned from some radio stations and drew a letter from the FBI to the group’s record label expressing concern about lyrics encouraging “violence against and disrespect” of law enforcement officers.

Ice Cube believes the passage of time has changed the way these songs are accepted.

“It’s no longer shocking to the system. Some of them may be, but for the most part, America’s not as uptight about profanity and in-your-face stuff as it used to be. So it’s going to be received a little different. But a lot of the problems still remain,” he says.

He sidesteps a question about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Los Angeles and other cities: “You know, I rarely like what the federal government do, so I might be the wrong guy to ask.”

But he’s all for protest songs, as long as they put the music first and the message comes from “deep down in your heart.”

Guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, currently on tour with Bruce Springsteen, is a past Ice Cube collaborator (album “Everythang’s Corrupt”) who is not shy about sharing his frustrations. Ice Cube has his back.

“I totally agree with however he wants to express himself, or any artist or group,” he says. “You got to do what you feel as an artist. You don’t want to put any restrictions on it. I think a lot of artists are afraid to get canceled and all that kind of stuff. Comedians are going through it. It puts a strain on art.”

Ice Cube is scheduled to perform at 7:10 p.m. Friday, April 10, during the Tortuga Music Festival at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park, 1100 Seabreeze Blvd. For tickets and information, visit TortugaMusicFestival.com.

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