The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Ice-t will bring the golden age of hip-hop to Morongo When: Where: Tickets: Information:
A decade ago, Ice-t was part of the essential music documentary “Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap,” which focuses on the craft of writing and performing the genre.
Now, the iconic rapper, heavy metal singer and actor will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the documentary with Rob Base and other guests when they kick off their tour at Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa on March 26.
“It’s almost like you’re going to a hip-hop seminar because I kind of explain everything about hiphop in my show,” Ice-t said. “We’ve been doing shows for a long time so we know how to put on a good show.”
In the mid-’80s, Ice-t was inspired by rapper Schoolly D, whom he credits as the first to write a gangsta rhyme. The track “P.S.K.” moved Ice-t to write “6’n the Mornin’,” which reflected life on the streets of L.A. and eventually set the path for gangsta rappers and other acts who quickly followed the model. The development of rap between the mid-’80s and early ’90s is what Ice-t and others refer to as the golden era of hip-hop.
“We were the generation that really broke it,” Ice-t said.
These days, Ice-t has several projects going. His week typically consists of filming for “Law and Order: SVU,” now in its 23rd season; or performing rap shows or with his heavy metal band, Body Count, which won a Grammy in 2021 for best metal performance.
Ice-t talked with the Southern California News Group about his upcoming tour, today’s state of rap, television and more. Some answers were edited for space and clarity.
QTell me a little bit about “The Art of Rap” and the 10-year anniversary show.
AWhen we did “The Art of Rap,” it was an attempt to show hip-hop as an art form. These are real writers who aren’t talking about the girl, car or jewelry. It was about how you do it and why you do it. Once we finished it, we got such good reviews. I told my partner Mickey Benson: Mo, why don’t you take this and run with it? There’s so many groups in my era that are gold and platinum that if you want to be honest, if they’re going to wait on Drake to say, “Let’s go on tour,” you’re not going on tour. We thought, why don’t we create something where we can take out top level artists that have made their mark with platinum records and hit that adult hip-hop audience that still loves that music, and that’s what The Art of Rap [Tour] is. We do shows all over the country with that Art of Rap imprint.
QHow do you feel about the hip-hop/rap scene today? Do you have anyone that you like and are listening to?
AI like a lot of it from Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole. I’m a lyricist so I like lyrics. I’ve also been really heavy into battle rap recently. I like bars, as we call them. Music will always be generational. A generation usually comes and goes, probably within 15 years. So a kid that’s 18 might follow something until he’s 30 but then another vibe happens to them because now they start paying rent and they got bills, so different music is being listened to. The generation right now is kids who are maybe 18-25, and these are kids who have their own vibe and sound, which we did too. So there’s nothing wrong with the new music; it just might not land on the ears of an adult the same way it would on the ears of a teenager.
QYou’re also in Body Count. Have you always been into hard-core and metal? What made you gravitate to that scene?
ABody Count is the music that works during turmoil, just like Rage Against the Machine and Public Enemy. We had the Obama years where people were, like, “Don’t worry; be happy. It’s OK; let’s pop bottles.” People didn’t want to hear politically charged music, but then when Trump came it was perfect timing for Body Count to resurface. I was always involved with rock because where I grew up my cousin always kept the rock station on in our bedroom. He thought he was Jimi Hendrix. So growing up in L.A. I was forced to listen to KMET and KLOS. Before I knew it, I knew everything from Boston, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Edgar Winter and Neil Young. I could do classic rock trivia with the best of them. At the same time, my homies in the hood were listening to Parliament and James Brown. As far as punk rock, I listened to Minor Threat, X and Black Flag. I listened to all kinds of music growing up. When we went to Europe, we saw that the kids would mosh to fast records. So I came back to my guys and said, “Let’s make a rock band and give it the impending doom of Black Sabbath, the speed of Slayer and the punk sensibility of Suicidal Tendencies.” That was the birth of Body Count. I said, “I’ll just sing about the same things I sing about in my records, but we’ll do it over hard and heavy speed metal.”
QWhat it’s like being a Black artist in the metal scene, which has historically been fronted by White men?
AThere’s always going to be people involved in different genres. It doesn’t feel that much different; you just have to kick that much more. It’s probably how Eminem felt in hip-hop. I have to be that much better because the genre doesn’t hate you, they just don’t want you to pose.
ICE-T
They just want you to be really serious about it and when some people come and see us play they say, oh these can play. We’ve had fun with it but we were embraced early by everyone from Dave Mustaine, Henry Rollins and Slayer. I’m one of the only people to ever do duets with Slayer. We got the head nod from the OGS in the metal genre. We just had to get ourselves out there and make good records.
QWhat was it like being part of “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” for so long? Do you feel like Fin’s character sticks with you?
ANot at all. When I got the gig Dick Wolf said, “You’re not fond of cops, right?” And I said I thought they had too much power, but then again I used to be a criminal so they were the opponent. I don’t hate cops. They’re doing their jobs. And he said, “Well, play the cop we need.” So Fin’s character is like if I was a cop magically. “S.V.U.” puts rapists and child molesters in prison so I have no problem busting those weirdos. It’s been a gig for a while and I’m as far away from being a cop as possible. The one thing about acting is you’re acting. I call acting grown-up make believe and that’s all it is.
QWhat was it like to be in a reality show? Do you feel like reality TV is more of insight into your real life or is it just another layer of performance for television?
AReality TV is based on reality, but it’s not reality. They kind of follow you around and they have to build a storyline so it’s not scripted, but you know what you’re about to do. It’s fun but it’s time-consuming. I think the main thing is we did that show to help my wife. My wife’s a model so it can be a one-dimensional thing where people just look at pictures of you but don’t know anything about you. After filming I think it helped bring down any stereotypes that might’ve been applied to us and show we’re just regular people. But you got to get out of reality TV because eventually you run out of plot.