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| Birth Name(s) : Ice-T |
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Full Ice-T Biography
Tracy Marrow (born February 16, 1958), better known by stage name Ice-T, and nickname O.G. (Original Gangsta) is an American emcee, rock musician, author, former United States Army soldier, and actor. He was instrumental in creating gangsta rap. Much of his music is politically oriented, although this has declined with time. Since 2000, he has played the role of Det. Fin Tutuola on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. As of 2007, Marrow resides in North Bergen, New Jersey.
Marrow's stage name Ice-T was originally his street moniker, styled after the famous ex-pimp turned author Iceberg Slim. In an introduction to the 1996 Canongate Books reprint of Iceberg Slim's 1969 autobiography Pimp, Ice-T explained: "Although I never met the man, Iceberg Slim was to have a profound effect on my career and life... Like him, I wanted to be somebody who didn't just die there out on the streets. I wanted to be able to document some of my experiences, and that's what I've been trying to do in my music for the past decade. I took my rap name in tribute to him, and I've never regretted it. He was a real hustler."
Ice-T is believed to be the first emcee to have ever performed the notorious Crip Walk (or C-Walk) up on stage, in front of cameras sometime in the '80s. This added to his already controversial fame and gave rise to the C-Walk's mainstream presentation in other videos via WC, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, and other Crip-affiliated rap artists.
In 1991 he released his classic album OG: Original Gangster, which is regarded as one of Gangsta Rap's defining albums. It was also on this album in which he introduced his heavy metal band Body Count. He has released 4 other rap albums since then. His first rap album since 1999, Gangsta Rap, was released on October 31, 2006. The album's cover, which "shows lying on his back in bed with his ravishing wife's ample posterior in full view and one of her legs coyly draped over his private parts," was considered to be too suggestive for most retailers, many of which were reluctant to stock the album. Some reviews of the album were unenthusiastic, as many had hoped for a return to the political raps of Ice-T's most successful albums.
Besides fronting his own band, Ice-T has also collaborated with other hard rock and metal bands, such as Icepick, Slayer, Motörhead, Pro-Pain, Black Sabbath, Six Feet Under. He has also covered songs by hardcore punk bands such as The Exploited, Jello Biafra, and Black Flag.
Ice-T debuted as an actor in the films Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo in 1984, only two years after his first 12" ("The Coldest Rap," 1982) appeared. In 1991, he embarked onto a serious acting career, playing a police detective in Mario Van Peebles' feature film New Jack City, gang leader King James in Trespass (1992), followed by a notable lead role performance in Surviving the Game in addition to his many supporting roles, such as J-Bone in Johnny Mnemonic (1995), and the marsupial mutant T-Saint in Tank Girl, 1995. Ice-T was also interviewed in the Brent Owens documentary Pimps Up, Ho's Down, in which he is quoted as saying "I can't act, I really can't act", and raps at the Players Ball.
Ice-T voiced Madd Dogg in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as well as Agent Cain in Sanity: Aiken's Artifact. He also appears as himself in Def Jam: Fight for NY and UFC: Tapout fighting video games.
Ice-T made an appearance on Chappelle's Show as himself presenting the award for "Player Hater of the Year." He was dubbed the "Original Player Hater."
He has voiced theories regarding the involvement of the CIA in drug trafficking on tracks such as "This One's for Me" and "Message to the Soldier", and in sections of his book.
Although usually on the political left, he was criticized for misogyny in his lyrics, and this has deterred some liberals from supporting him. The track "I Always Wanted To be a Ho" has sometimes been interpreted as a break with this failure to oppose sexism; it begins by encouraging women to follow their dreams. In The Ice Opinion, he claimed that he was a feminist insofar as he believed in equal pay for women and equal rights generally. He argued against the position that being a stripper or a model is demeaning to women by an analogy with a man who considers a gay man to be demeaning all men by his actions, arguing that if the latter feeling is untenable, the former is as well.
In 1994, Ice-T wrote a book titled The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck?. The purpose of the 199-page book was to respond to questions about his political beliefs, his life and the controversy surrounding his music. Having often voiced controversial statements about corruption, he goes into detail about his suspicions of police/CIA involvement in drug trafficking and of how certain businesses profit from prison-building. The ten chapters are:
- The Jungle Creed
- The Killing Fields
- Crime and Punishment
- Men, Women and Sex
- Rap: the art of Shit Talkin'
- Religion: One Percent Nation
- Racism
- Riots and Revolution
- The Controversy
- The Future / No Fear |
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