Tracy Marrow is one of life’s high achievers. “Good luck!” the man now known as Ice-T says when we inform him we’re going to try to cover as much of his career as we can over our allotted hour together, before shooting us a grin, rocking his head back and unleashing the first of many deep belly laughs.
Orphaned as a young child, Ice’s early life took in homelessness and a stint in the army before he became one of the defining voices of West Coast hip hop in the 80s. The 1990s saw him unexpectedly pivot towards metal with the formation of his controversial band Body Count. “I never wanted to be the best, I just wanted to be in the league,” he says with a shrug. “When I started rapping, I just wanted to be mentioned amongst the rappers. With Body Count we just wanted to be involved in metal so they would mention us. Maybe not the best, but we’re in there.”
Today the 65-year-old is in the unique position of being both a hip hop elder statesman and an iconic metal singer. His circle of friends and collaborators includes Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta and members of Slayer. He’s got an equally high-profile sideline as an actor, and he’s just launched his new podcast, So how do you become a multidisciplinary legend? Over to you, Ice…
