Ice-T on ageing, rap and why he is again after 20 years
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When Ice-T launched his final studio album in 2006, Twitter had simply launched, skinny denims had been the most popular trend pattern, and Yung Joc’s “It’s Goin’ Down” was the most important hip-hop track of the yr.
Over the subsequent 20 years, the Godfather of West Coast gangsta rap grew distant from the artwork kind he helped pioneer. His 1986 basic “6 ‘N the Mornin’” had once paved the way for N.W.A’s “F— Tha Police,” however Ice-T finally stepped again from the style that made him a legend.
“What happened with hip-hop is it hit a left turn,” says the rap icon and actor who spent a lot of the previous 20 years portraying Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola on the long-running NBC sequence Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Ice-T has additionally written books and been the frontman for his Grammy-winning heavy metallic band Body Count.
“It went to ringtone rap and to AutoTune rap. I didn’t know if hip-hop would ever come back to the way I knew it,” he stated.
Which is why Ice-T’s official return is such a defiant gamble. Criminal Migraine, an audacious 24-track double album set to launch subsequent month, showcases an older, wiser — and at occasions — prickly rhyme pugilist. Ice says he was impressed by what he describes as an “OG rap renaissance” that has seen the likes of Killer Mike, Jay-Z and Nas all flip again the clock.
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Still, there’s the proverbial elephant within the room. What does a 68-year-old MC sound like in a youth-obsessed tradition the place podcasts and social media have develop into the brand new platform for hip-hop authenticity?
“I’m not here to drag the new generation,” the person born Tracy Marrow explains. “I’m more like trying to motivate them.”
The ever irreverent Ice-T has rather a lot to say.
Our dialog has been flippantly edited and condensed.
Ice-T attends the visible album launch of Papoose’s “Bars on Wheels: A Journey to Save Hip Hop” at The Roxy Cinema on Nov. 25, 2025, in New York City.
You had been 25 if you made your 1983 debut with “The Coldest Rap.” Did you ever suppose that many years later you’ll be one of many oldest rappers in hip-hop?
I by no means considered it that means. I’m 68. If you’re an artist, I don’t suppose you ever cease doing what you’re keen on. Smokey Robinson continues to be doing reveals [at 86]. Miles Davis did it till he died [at 65]. Ozzy Osbourne was performing up till his final live performance [last year at 76]. I not too long ago had George Clinton over to my home. He’s 85! That man pulled up with a younger factor. She was 52 [laughs].
There are individuals who truly consider a 30-year-old rapper is historical.
And that’s loopy. Who turns into wack at 30? The factor about hip-hop is it’s solely 52 years outdated. It’s a child, so we don’t know if you happen to actually age out. Melle Mel continues to be performing [at 65]. Jay-Z simply offered out Yankee Stadium [at 56]. But I’m the oldest rapper who is definitely doing it … nonetheless making new music. I’ve offered over 20 million albums in my profession. If Criminal Migraine is profitable, I’ve reset the bar for hip-hop to the place there isn’t a age. So all people in hip-hop ought to root for this album, as a result of it extends their life expectancy in rap.
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Twenty years is 4 lifetimes in hip-hop. What impressed you to get again within the sales space?
It was Killer Mike profitable a Grammy [for Best Rap Album in 2024 for MICHAEL]. I used to be like, “Hmmm…OK. Killer Mike raps.” I like Mike, and I like Run The Jewels. Then Nas dropped his albums, the Clipse launched a critically acclaimed album, then Mobb Deep, Ghostface and Raekwon dropped albums. I’m like, “OK … n‑‑‑‑s are really rapping again.”
Some time again, we had a dialog about the way you by no means wished to be often called the outdated man within the membership. Were you cognizant of avoiding that entice through the making of Criminal Migraine?
Yeah. At my age, I’m not purported to be rapping about how I promote medication or how I’m catching our bodies. That could be corny for me. When I take heed to a number of rappers right now, the wave once more is coke rap. And I’m pals with a number of the MCs who’re the most effective at doing that, like Benny the Butcher. But at a sure level, if you hear a rapper say I’m the most important drug seller on the planet, I’m like, “Then why are you still rapping?” At a sure level it will get twisted.
Beyond hardcore Ice-T followers, who do you suppose is Criminal Migraine’s target market?
People who wish to get some contest. That’s what they search for from an OG. Like, “OK, Ice, on your earlier records you were trying to get it.” We heard that starvation. But by all observations, you’ve made it out of that life. You did what you got down to do. You had been in a position to keep out of hassle. We ain’t by no means heard about you getting arrested, getting caught with no goofy s‑‑‑. Tell us easy methods to get there. You wish to discover out, go purchase the album at IceT.com. F‑‑‑ streaming.
In current interviews you’ve been fairly vocal about your disdain for streaming platforms.
I simply suppose the labels offered the artists out. You want 330 million streams to make $1 million, proper? Like who the f‑‑‑ can do this? Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny and perhaps a number of others. So I used to be like, “OK, let’s go straight to the consumer.” All I would like is 10,000 folks to spend $100. That’s $1 million. You don’t want 3 million followers. You don’t want Drake followers. You simply want E-40 followers. Everybody will not be a 40 fan, however he has a loyal fanbase.
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On the monitor, “Shut The F‑‑‑ Up,” you are taking intention on the new technology of rappers incriminating themselves on social media. As a self-described OG, how alarming has it been seeing the start of the podcast-to-prison pipeline?
It’s wild. The new drug is clout. All the OGs are sitting again like, “N‑‑‑‑, what are you doing? Why are you incriminating yourself?” These podcasts are interviewing folks with no expertise, so if you happen to don’t have expertise and also you affiliate with that gangster life-style, the one factor you are able to do is speak about your legal actions.
That’s develop into a cottage trade for the likes of DJ Vlad and No Jumper.
That’s what they do. It’s like an interviewer saying to me, “Ice, we heard you are fake.” And I’m like, “Nah … I got my gun on me right now!” [Laughs]. They bait you into proving you’re actual. You have youngsters cooking crack and displaying off weapons on the web. But what they don’t perceive is the No. 1 device of regulation enforcement is social media.
During the “Cop Killer” firestorm that just about ended your profession, might you ever have imagined you’d spend practically as lengthy taking part in a cop as you’ve gotten recording music?
How about that? This might be my twenty eighth stretch on Law & Order: SVU, and I’m nonetheless taking part in the police. Now that’s what we name in appearing a stretch [laughs].
Keith “Murph” Murphy is a senior editor at VIBE Magazine and frequent contributor at Billboard, AOL, and CBS Local. The veteran journalist has appeared on CNN, FOX News and A&E Biography and can also be the creator of the lads’s life-style ebook “Manifest XO.”
