Biography

The legendary gangsta hip-hop emcee Ice-T was born Tracy Marrow on February 16, 1958, in Newark, New Jersey. He moved to Los Angeles, California, to live with his paternal aunt after the death of his father while he was in the sixth grade; his mother had died earlier when he was in the third grade. His aunt lived in the South Los Angeles district of Crenshaw, colloquially referred to as South Central. He became immersed in the street life of the inner-city and eventually became a member of the West Side Rollin 30s Original Harlem Crips.

In 1979, Marrow joined the Army after leaving Crenshaw High School, but his 4-year hitch was enough for him, as he was a leader, not a follower. "I didn't like total submission to a leader other than myself," he said. After ETSing from the Army in 1983, he returned to South Central with the intention of becoming a hip-hop musician. More than music, his life got caught up in street life as as a jewel thief and as a pimp. (His nomme de guerre, Ice T, is an homage to the fabled pimp and raconteur Iceberg Slim (Robert Beck). He committed himself totally to his music after a 1985 car crash.

As a musician, Ice-T played a major role in the creation of the gangsta incarnation of hip-hop music and was a colossus of the West Coast hip-hop scene, despite his East Coast, greater New York, origins. Though his music displays a political consciousness, like the indictments of racism that were a hallmark of seminal hip-hop group Public Enemy, it also is nihilistic as befits a chronicler of street life. His most infamous song, the heavy metal "Cop Killer," was one of the major battle in the cultural wars of the 1990s, in which cultural conservatives enlisted the Moses of the right wing, Charlton Heston, to get Ice-T dropped from his then-label, Sire/Warner Bros.

The charismatic Ice-T has also achieved success as an actor in movies and on TV. He plays Detective Odafin Tutuola on the TV series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), which is ironic for someone famous for "Cop Killer" and his feud with the L.A.P.D. Ice-T currently resides in North Bergen, New Jersey, with his wife, Coco Austin.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood

Often reflects himself in his songs

He said a few lines on Chunky A's (Arsenio Hall) song "Dope, the Big Lie", from the album "Large and in Charge" (1989).

His song "Cop Killer", which was recorded with his heavy metal group, Body Count, was the subject of a national debate on the glorification of violence in the media. After the song was removed from Body Count's self-titled debut album, and after further controversy over the artwork for the then-forthcoming "Home Invasion" album, he was dropped by Sire/Warner Bros. Records, which had released the album. The split was amicable, even though Sire had assigned the catalog number 45119 to the album. Later pressings of the self-titled Body Count album were replaced by the Ice-T solo track, "Freedom of Speech (Just Watch What You Say)". "Home Invasion" was released, eventually, by Ice's now-defunct label, Rhyme $yndicate Records, through Priority/EMI, with the intended artwork intact.

While his cousin Earl Marrow was preparing to leave for college, Ice-T shared a bedroom with him. Earl was a huge fan of rock music and listened only to the local radio rock stations; sharing a with him sparked Ice-T's interest in heavy metal music.

He holds the distinction of being the only guest vocalist ever to appear on an album by Black Sabbath, doing a guest rhyme on the song "Illusion of Power" on the band's album "Forbidden" (1995).

Attended and graduated from Crenshaw High School in South Central Los Angeles.

His longtime girlfriend was a Criplet--a female Crip gang member in Los Angeles, California.

His wife, Coco Austin, a.k.a. Coco, is a swimsuit model.

Although he had a large feud with the LAPD as a result from his song "Cop Killer", he ironically plays a police officer in the popular series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).

Although not credited, he appeared in the opening credits to the music video "Fight Music" (2001) by D12 (Eminem's hip-hop group).

Phil Collins has often spoken of his astonishment and flattery at finding out that Ice-T owned his albums.

His album "Rhyme Pays" (1987) was the first hip-hop album to carry an 'explicit lyrics' sticker.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7065 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 17, 2023.

His favorite heavy rock acts are Edgar Winter, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.

[on the controversy created by "Cop Killer"] When the President (of the United States) mentions your name in anger, you KNOW the s--t has hit the fan!"

[on his Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) co-star, Richard Belzer] Belzer's the best. He's Jewish and I'm Black, so the Klan's after both of us. Belzer is a G, an old-school cat who knows the game. He's very controversial in his comedy, and me in my music. So I think we just naturally clicked.

[on his contribution to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)] I bring a lot of shit to the show. I'm the only person on the show probably anybody under 20 knows who they are. I bring black people and ethnic people. I bring an edge to the show, because at any moment I might smack the shit out of somebody. When I got on the show, it was in the 40s. Now it's top 10. So I brought something.

I want people who come to see my movies to sit down and be like, 'Come on Ice, do what you do. Take us some-fucking-where-else and don't hold the shit back'.

When you start a business, go for the lowest hanging fruit.

Passion makes the world go round. Love just makes it a safer place.