A Short History of Ice-T

Ice-T, or Tracy, to give him his real name, has taken a strange route through rap. As the first major rapper to emerge from the west coast in 1983, he is credited/discredited with the invention of gangster rap. His early albums walked a fine line between glorifying black nihilism and attempting to do something about it. This can be read either as a mixed message or a specific strategy to conform to a generic type in order that he may sell more records and get a progressive message out on the streets. As his career has progressed it's become clear that Ice-T wants to be progressive, in which case his albums are an interesting insight into the marketing practices of major labels dealing in hip-hop.

Tracy Morrow has been shot twice, once while carrying out an armed robbery. He was a member of a troublesome LA gang. Apparently, his life changed when he met black author and former pimp Iceberg Slim, and his influence is detectable across most of Ice-T's albums since 'Rhyme Pays' in 1987. Iceberg Slim's books are graphic in dealing with the seedier side of life on the street, although they were written as a form of catharsis and often included moralistic messages (and sometimes didn't). Ice-T's albums can be taken the same way.

On 'Rhyme Pays' the beats are tinny and his voice has not yet developed the deep growl that he would later perfect. 'Squeeze The Trigger' and '6 'N the Mornin'' are stories of gang life where the message is left ambiguous. It addresses the stand-off between the police and the youths on the street, but hints that the whole situation may be blown out of proportion. The second album leaves strories of the street aside for the most part but replaces them with bragging songs that thrive on misogyny, but then on album number three, 'The Iceberg', who else but angry old Jello Biafra turns up to add vocals to two of the songs. Does that mean Ice-T has got the politically correct thumbs-up from the most principled man in America? The rhymes deal with censorship, sex and there are a few more street tales.

The next album is acknowledged by Ice-T fans as the best he ever did. 'Original Gangster'. It sounds awesome, as if the samples have been done by the Bomb Squad boys who work with Public Enemy, and the raps are about child abuse, black pride, saying no to guns and features a sampled montage of real-life prisoners explaining why prison is not such a cool place to be. There are no bragging sex songs either, in fact one song actually goes so far as to parody exactly the sort of song he was making two albums previously. Ice-T was getting preachy. Who could have guessed what would come next.

'Bodycount', a full-on Lollapalooza-playing metal album, that just happened to include a track called 'Cop Killer' which told the story of a lawman's murder from the perspective of the killer. It was an anti-violence song, but so complicated in terms of its characters and identifications that the message was not one hundred per cent clear. It was banned, which of course raised its significance and became a firm favorite at rock clubs throughout America and the UK. White rock fans dug the controversial sentiment and tried to get hold of a copy by whatever means necessary. They were in it for the irony of course, and the fact that it kicked ass.

In the end, the power of the track to encourage violence, no matter how misguided, was neutered by the fact that Ice-T's audience had switched. He lost his mainly hip-hop audience because he gained a rock audience, although a black icon who had crossed over into white culture, the long-term effect of 'Cop Killer' has been a gradual shift of taste amongst new hip-hop fans to a position in-between rock and beats, and vice versa. Ice-T can take some credit for tearing down the boundaries between black and white musical cultures, leading to new forms which borrow from both camps. The result, nu-metal.