ICE-T IN CONCERT:
O.G. original gangster Ice-T’s brutally honest rhymes brought the mean streets of LA to fans across the country over 20 years ago. He still brings this same infectious energy and indomitable presence to every stage whether he’s performing as a solo artist or with his heavy metal band Body Count. Ice-T will have ticket buyers singing along to the choruses and bouncing along to verses on classics like “6 in the Mornin’”, “O.G. Original Gangster”, and “I’m Your Pusher”. He's going big for The Art of Rap Festival in 2015, with co-headliner The Game on board to help him celebrate the evolution of hip hop throughout the years.
BACKGROUND SNAPSHOT:
Ice-T was born Tracy Marrow in Newark, NJ in 1958. He moved frequently as a child, eventually living with his aunt in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was there that his gift of memorizing and reciting passages by pimp-turned-laureate Iceberg Slim earned him his nickame. His music career took off in 1986 with the single “6 in the Mornin’”, which introduced listeners to Ice-T's voice while exposing the harsh truths of LA gang life. He established himself as one of the founding fathers of West Coast gangster rap with the albums Power (1988), The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say! (1989), and O.G. Original Gangster (1991). At the height of his popularity in 1992 he started the metal/rap fusion group Body Count, which rose to infamy based on the controversial song “Cop Killer”. He continued recording, touring, and stirring up controversy throughout the ‘90s both as a solo artist and a member of Body Count. Ironically, his gangster past made him a natural fit for the acting role of streetwise Detective Odafin Tutuola on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2000. Though filming limited his recording schedule, he still managed to finish the albums Murder 4 Hire with Body Count as well as the 2006 solo album Gangsta Rap. Body Count released Manslaughter in 2014, their fifth studio album and Ice-T’s first in eight years, and fans are excited for the O.G. of LA to resume his rightful throne atop the hip hop heap.
