American rapper and
actor. Born in
Newark,
New Jersey in
1959 as
Tracy Morrow, he moved to
Los Angeles after his
parents died in a
car accident. Taking his
nom-de-rap from a
pimp named
Iceberg Slim who wrote
novels and
poetry, the
proto-
rapper used to
memorize Slim's poetry so he could
recite it for his friends. While he was trying to establish his
career as a rapper, Ice appeared in the films "
Rappin'", "
Breakin'", and (Oh my GAWD!) "
Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo".
He released several
albums in the late
1980s, but didn't hit it really
big until he recorded the
theme song for the
Dennis Hopper film "
Colors"--his
harder-edged
lyrics were more
impressive than the
party raps he had recorded previously. The two records that followed ("
Power" and "
The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say") were recorded under Ice's own
label,
Rhyme Syndicate, and
distributed through
Sire/Warner. They spotlighted his excellent
rhymes,
political commentaries, and
smart narratives of life as a
black man in
L.A.Ice-T appeared in the film "
New Jack City" and recorded "
New Jack Hustler" for the
film and for his new
album "
O.G.: Original Gangster" in
1991. "
O.G." became his most
successful album and became one of the most
important records in the growing
gangsta rap sub-genre. At turns
articulate and
brutal,
sexist and
sad,
concerned and
violent,
clever and
crude, the record touched on the strange
dichotomy of
urban life for many
young black men--to get the
good life, you gotta live the
bad life.
"
O.G." also featured a
thrash metal track called "
Body Count", recorded by his band of the same name.
Body Count went
on the road with the original
Lollapalooza tour, boosting Ice's
popularity beyond
rap and
L.A. into
alternative music and
heavy metal fans.
Body Count released an
album in
1992 featuring the
controversial single "
Cop Killer". Faced with enraged
protests by
police activist groups and the
NRA (both of whom were fairly
silent a few years later when
talk radio host
G. Gordon Liddy advised people to
aim for the head when shooting at
federal agents--ya think
skin color made a difference there?),
Time-Warner Records dropped Ice-T from the label.
Since then, Ice's records have been much less
successful, both
critically and
commercially. He has focused his
career on
acting in recent years, appearing in a number of
movies and
TV shows, including "
Surviving the Game", "
Tank Girl", "
Johnny Mnemonic", "
Players", "
The Deli", "
Final Voyage", "
The Heist", and "
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit". Yes, he often ends up playing
cops. Oh, the
irony...