Ice-T and Body Count are currently overseas melting people’s faces off with their heavy metal anthems. At 66 years old, Hip-Hop’s “Original Gangster” hasn’t slowed down and, instead, continues to add chapters to his colorful story.
Fellow rap pioneer Chuck D—who himself is 63 and still rocking stages like he’s 33—praised Ice-T for his unrelenting stamina. On Saturday (June 8), the Law & Order star shared a couple of photos from his shows in Germany on Twitter (X) and wrote, “2 Down in Germany so far! Hamburg and Nuremberg… Destroyed. Thanks to ALL in attendance! MERCILESS.”
2 Down in Germany 🇩🇪 so far! Hamburg and Nuremberg… 💥Destroyed💥 Thanks to ALL in attendance! MERCILESS @BodyCountBand pic.twitter.com/QaHamfsP8L
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) June 9, 2024
Chuck D retweeted the post and added, “Damn . 66 years of ICE is a blizzard and a damn glacier coming at you in 2024. no excuses for [youthier] acts not to exude this
@FINALLEVEL of power and Energy.”
Ice-T replied hours later with mutual admiration and a few words of wisdom, writing, “@MrChuckD has ALWAYS been my Brother in this WAR against Sucka s###…. He once said “Those that are not in the War, shouldn’t comment on the Battles”. That stuck with me.. RESPECT.”
💥@MrChuckD has ALWAYS been my Brother in this WAR against Sucka s###…. He once said “Those that are not in the War, shouldn’t comment on the Battles”. That stuck with me.. ✊🏽 RESPECT ✊🏽 https://t.co/EdxbprFk4O
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) June 9, 2024
Ice-T has earned heaps of praise from his peers over the years. He’s often credited with popularizing gangsta rap on the West Coast. In 1983, the same year Los Angeles electro-Hip-Hop legend Egyptian Lover and Uncle Jamm’s Army released “Dial-A-Freak,” Ice-T dropped the electro-flavored “The Coldest Rap (Part 1)” and “The Coldest Rap (Part 2)” via Saturn Records.
In an April interview with AllHipHop, Egyptian Lover talked about his impact.
“When Ice-T came on the scene, man, there was only a handful of people doing street rap, which they now call gangsta rap,” he says. “So the first one I heard was Mix Master S####. And then I had a record in high school, and me and Mix Master S#### switched tapes. I heard his rap and he heard mine. But then I didn’t want to keep doing street rap, I wanted to do more of a party rap. I got out of it and just did all party rap, no more street rap.
“Then I heard Ice-T do it. And then there was a few others around the neighborhood that was doing it. So they were taking the style of like ‘Rappers Delight’ but only doing it in a gangster style, street style, and I thought that was brilliant for what it was, but I couldn’t see myself playing that at a party. When I saw Ice-T got signed, it was incredible. I hustled my a## off for a record deal. He talked his way into that record deal and it worked out.”
