Ice-T thinks modern rappers are 'goofy' and 'soft'
- Ice-T isn't a fan of modern rap music.
- "The music got goofy to me. The kids started looking weird," he said. "These kids got softer."
Ice-T isn't a fan of modern rap music.
"The music got goofy to me. The kids started looking weird. It all turned into something I wasn't comfortable with," the 65-year-old told Variety when asked why he no longer makes solo records.
Ice-T, whose real name is Tracy Marrow, is widely considered one of the forefathers of gangsta rap. A former New York gang member, he took his hard-hitting street style to the mainstream in the 1980s and '90s with songs like "6 in the Mornin'" and "New Jack Hustler."
In 1991, he also co-founded the heavy metal band Body Count, which in 1992 released the hugely controversial song "Cop Killer."
Ice-T continues to work with Body Count today, but has only one solo album since the turn of the century, 2006's "Gangsta Rap."
"There was a point where I was selling tons of records, then it cooled off. I felt a certain way," Ice-T continued. "Then I realized Public Enemy, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, and Wu-Tang Clan weren't selling records, either. There was a paradigm shift."
"These kids got softer, and soft is not something I'm able to give audiences. The first word in hip-hop is 'hip' so how something stays hip for over 10 years is difficult," the rapper said.
Elsewhere in his chat with Variety, Ice-T expressed his delight at being given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last month.
The two-time Grammy award winner made his acting debut in 1983 in the television series "Fame" and has since starred in over 70 shows, most famously as Sergeant Odafin "Fin" Tutuola in NBC's "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" — a role he has held from 2000 to now.
Ice-T has also starred in over 75 films, including the critically acclaimed 1991 action crime film "New Jack City."
"When I started making records, I didn't come into the music business thinking I would be a star," he said. "I was just seeing if I could get a fan base. I didn't want to be the best rapper. I just wanted to be mentioned among the greats: LL Cool J, Run-DMC."