Today is the birthday of Ice-T, (cursed with the given
name of Tracy Morrow), who was born sometime in the late 1950s in Newark, New
Jersey. Ice-T is notorious for his controversial rap lyrics and frank honesty,
as well as his foray into metal with the group Body Count. Ice-T was raised by
an aunt in Los Angeles after his parents were killed in a car accident. After
being inspired by ghetto poet Iceberg Slim at the age of 15, Ice-T began
working on his own poetry. He became involved with the South Central Los
Angeles gang scene, where he changed his name to Ice-T and began recording
songs. The first was "The Coldest Rap," a singsong vocal laid over a sampled
Jimmy Jam-Terry Lewis track that sold for a mere $20 but earned him a spot at a
local rap club and a spot in the movie Breakin'.
Ice-T's debut came
in 1987 with Rhyme Pays; it was filled with eyewitness accounts of inner
city life as well as sexually explicit imagery. Predictably, Tipper Gore's PMRC
began getting on his case and persuaded Sire records to sticker the album. On
the plus side, Ice-T got the attention of actor Dennis Hopper, who asked Ice-T
to write the title song for his gang-culture movie Colors.
Ice-T
continued to release solo records, teaming up with former Dead Kennedys
frontman Jello Biafra for a double stab at the PMRC The Iceberg/Freedom of
Speech--Just Watch What You Say in 1989. In 1992 Ice-T formed Body Bount, a
thrash-metal outfit with whom he recorded the inflammatory "Cop Killer." After
much furor, Sire's parent company, Time Warner, dropped the track from Body
Count's record.
Ice-T's followup solo album, Home Invasion was
rejected for its artwork and the rapper cancelled his contract, signing with
the independent Priority label before working with Virgin for 1994's Born
Dead. Meanwhile, he's appeared in films like New Jack City,
Ricochet and Tank Girl. His autobiography, The Ice
Opinion, was released in 1994. He returned to the studio in 1996 for Rap
Games Hijacked and again found himself in the hotseat for some anti-semitic
remarks.
Other birthdays: Patrick Sugg (Holy Barbarians), Vic Briggs
(Animals), Doug Simril (Steve Miller Band), Tim Buckley, Roger Fisher (Heart)
and D'Wayne Wiggins (Tony! Toni! Tone!). -- Beth Winegarner
