A Tribute To Ice-T Music Everyone will have different interpretations of the music and the lyrics best speak for themselves but in my opinion there isn't enough credit given to the positive messages in Ice-T's music. The song 'Cop Killer' has been the subject of a lot of criticism of his music but these people seem to be ignoring the fact that Ice has explained the context, purpose and intent of the song. And why should one song out of so many stop people from appreciating the good that his music is doing? People are quick to criticize his realistic approach to talking about violence but they aren't giving him credit for songs like 'You Gotta Love Love' which promotes peace between gangs. Plenty of people who are recording songs that promote drug use have never faced the sort of opposition Ice has, but he's brought out songs like 'I'm Your Pusher' that are anti-drugs. The same people who are quick to condemn his descriptions of illegal acts aren't giving him credit for trying to discourage people from doing them. Many of his songs warn of the consequences of involvement in crime and ask the audience to question their involvement in them. Other songs like 'Girls, L.G.B.N.A.F' are just fun party tracks. If you're not a fan of Ice-T's music my advice to you is to visit some of the sites mentioned below and read the lyrics, listen to the music, and think about what this man is saying. Don't let your inhibitions about language or sexual or violent content (the CDs do have warnings on them) stop you from learning from what he's saying or enjoying some great music. I didn't get into Ice's music because it was "cool" with my friends, or because I wanted to "rebel", I don't even know many people who are familiar with his music, and my Mum likes the 'dope beats' (Dad doesn't like rap but he doesn't like anything that doesn't sound like The Bee Gees or Britney Spears, so my as an alternative fan I was already listening to music he didn't like). I was a fan of Ice-T as an actor before I found his music, and I did so after reading "The Ice Opinion" (by Ice-T as told to Heidi Sigmund) and becoming curious about his music. When I read the lyrics I was impressed, he deals with some serious stuff and I like the way he deals with it. Some of my favourite Ice-T songs are: 6 'N The Morning, I'm Your Pusher, O.G Original Ganster, New Jack Hustler (Nino's Theme), I Must Stand, Girls L.G.B.N.A.F, Girl Tried To Kill Me, Sex, I Love Ladies, and 99 Problems. Some of my favourite Body Count tracks are: Body Count, There Goes The Neighbourhood, KKK Bitch, and Stripers. As a woman I know some of Ice-T's attitudes might not be 'politically correct' but I enjoy his sexually aggressive music and I appreciate that he's willing to be honest about his opinions and feelings. If anything, rather than being harmed by his music the way some censors might like to convince people his audience is in danger of, I have if anything been educated by it. It's made me a little more aware of a lot of different things going on that are outside my own personal experiences. Ice-T has released - Rhyme Pays (1987), Power (1988), The Iceberg/Freedom Of Speech (1989), O.G. (Original Gangster) (1991), Home Invasion (1993), VI - Return Of The Real (1996) and 7th Deadly Sin, and his Greatest Hits CD "The Evidence" Tracks - be warned most of these track listings are from Australian releases and may differ from the American releases). Rhyme
Pays (as listed at HMV) Power (as
listed at Sanity) Freedom
of Speech (as listed at Sanity) O.G. (as
listed at Sanity) Return of
The Real (as listed at Sanity) Home
Invasion (as listed on Amazon) 7th
Deadly Sin (as listed at Sanity) The
Evidence (US) Body
Count by Body Count (as listed at Yahoo Music) Born Dead by Body Count
Violent Demise: The Last Days
by Body Count
You can find lyrics to a lot of Ice-T's songs at - http://digilander.iol.it/lerenti/lyrics/full/i/ice_t.htm You can download a wide range of Ice-T and Body Count songs from - http://www.audioglaxy.com |