Right now, the song that's blowing up for Body Count is "Talk Shit, Get Shot," in which, Ice-T—the hip-hop O.G. best known these days as Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutoala of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit—fantasizes blowing away hostile Internet bloggers. A video for the song has accrued almost 500,000 views on YouTube and the tune has become a fan favorite during Body Count's live set. As much as he loves the song, Ice-T knows he can't play it tomorrow night when he appears on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. So he and his bandmates—guitarists Ernie C and Juan of the Dead, bassist Vincent Price, drummer Ill Will, and sampler Sean E Sean—have prepared the slower doom-rap number "Enter the Darkside."
"It's not too fast or too crazy and I figured I could clean it up a little and people could still relate to the words," Ice-T says from a Revolver conference room. While they're still raw and heavy, this is a different Body Count than the one that emerged in 1992 and terrified the mainstream with the inflammatory "Cop Killer," which the band was pressured to pull from their self-titled debut. Today, Ice understands how to operate within the system and still get his message across. "You gotta approach them with something they'll understand," he explains. "It's better to play something that's maybe not your best song for 12 million people than say, 'Fuck you! I'm gonna do "Talk Shit, Get Shot!"'
Ice-T has good reason to be calculated and somewhat cautious. Body Count's first album in almost eight years, Manslaughter, is a cohesive, impassioned hybrid of thrash, crossover, punk, doom, and hip-hop, and he wants people to hear it. Driven by the same desire to connect with fans, during our 90 minutes with Ice, the hip-hop icon, television actor, and rock star listened intently to readers' questions and answered each with wit and insight.
Do you think it's ironic that you play cop on TV considering you wrote "Cop Killer," a song about killing policemen?" —Michele Scranton
"Cop Killer" came out in 1992, pre-Law & Order, pre-Rodney King. That's important. People said we did that record after Rodney King. No, we did it before Rodney King and we were talking about the shit that was going on in the streets prior to the riots. We told y'all. LAPD's out of fucking pocket! Then y'all saw it. So I'm glad I did the record. It was a protest record. The thing is, I don't hate cops. And honestly, when I did "Cop Killer," I didn't think it was controversial. There was a band called Millions of Dead Cops, Black Flag was going at cops. Punk was always after the cops. I thought cops were fair game. I just didn't know you couldn't kill 'em.
I am a PhD student at the University of California San Diego and I am writing about Body Count's cultural production as an example of popular culture that promotes an alternative narrative to post-racial 'Amerikkka' by putting at the forefront the racial conflict that still exists in this country. In the "Talk Shit, Get Shot" video, you portray spectacularized forms of violence against white people. White people talk a lot of shit, but are not usually the one's getting shot. —Jael Vizcarra Magallanes
The reason white people get shot in the "Talk Shit Get Shot" video is because the director brought in white people for us to shoot! A bunch of volunteers lined up that day and this is who was brought back. The two ladies that got shot had kids in rock bands, so they was down. The vegan was one of my biggest fans—he wanted to get it. Anyone who reads any racial shit into that video is missing the point. The first kid we snatched was black, and we were gonna shoot another black dude against a car, but we ran out of time. Anyway, Body Count is so violent that it can't be real. It becomes ridiculous and almost comical. If you believe I really shot anybody, than you also believe I can snatch a guy through a phone, like in the video.
Manslaughter doesn't seem at all racially motivated. It's like you've made peace with the white majority who now pay your bills. —Daron Elmtree
I'm kind of happy with the direction race is moving and I believe hip-hop basically put a black president into the White House. The only racial thing about Body Count right now is I'm working with a black band. I think there are a lot of black rockers that wish they could get in the game and we show them it can be done. I don't have a racial agenda at all. Every song on Manslaughter is written from the Ice-T on Law & Order's perspective. Yeah, I wish I could shoot bloggers, but that's about it.
You hooked up with Hatebreed's Jamey Jasta on the Manslaughter track "Pop Bubble" Why is he the only special guest on the album?—Alicia Treepenny
When Body Count ain't out, there's nobody calling us up and saying, "Hey, let's jam!" That's why Jamey Jasta's on the record because Jamey has always been a serious fuckin' Body Count fan. And when I'm saying "serious Body Count fan," I'm talking about people who you meet and they go, "Yo! That's my shit!" And they'll start naming all your records. So he's my dude. He kept asking when we were gonna do something so we made it happen.
Ernie C produced the 1995 Black Sabbath album, Forbidden, which featured you on the track "The Illusion of Power." How did that come together? —Nick Sparaniki
The first rock album I ever owned was the first Black Sabbath album. When you listen to "There Goes the Neighborhood," that's Black Sabbath. It's not their lick, but it could have been. It's their style. And on my first record as a rapper, "Rhyme Pays," I sampled "War Pigs." Word got out that I really liked Sabbath and they were at a point in their career when they decided to do something different, so they said, "Why don't we get Body Count to come out to produce this?" When I got the call, I thought it was Ashton Kutcher on the motherfucking phone—like some joke. I said, "Are you serious?" But they were serious, so Ernie flew to London and then I added my parts to 'Illusion of Power.' Now, no one's ever done a duet with Black Sabbath. That was historic—not the music so much—but the fact that we were asked by that legendary group. That was a seal of credibility right there.
A lot of rockers and rappers brag about their sexual conquests. How many chicks have you banged since you's such a pimp? —Devin Gearstone
I have been married for 13 years and I haven't cheated on my wife. Prior to that, I traveled around the world and I've seen lots of women. But I don't have any records like Wilt Chamberlain or Gene Simmons. Let's just say, I've lived a life that makes it comfortable for me to be married 13 years and not need to fuck anyone else.
Do you have any wild stories about encounters with multiple metal chicks?—Steven Carter
The widest thing was when I was in Canada doing a film. These two chicks sat next me and start kissing and said they wanted to take me home. They were really hot, so I was totally into it. I got into their car and when we got to their house there was a mattress on the floor, there were candles all over the fucking place, and they had books on Charles Manson, Son of Sam, and the occult. My dick literally crawled up inside of my nutsack. I said, "You know what? If I stay, I know I'm gonna want to spend the night with you ladies and I got a call time tomorrow. I've got your numbers. Let's do this when we've got more time." And I got the fuck out of there. I really thought these bitches were about to sacrifice me and do some blood ritual or some shit.
What do your Law & Order co-stars think of Body Count?—Amy Biderling
Danny Pino [who plays Detective Nick Amaro] is a real hip-hop fan and he loves it. Lots of the teamsters are gangsters and the guys who drive the trucks. They're into it. Of course, Mariska Hargitay [Sergeant Olivia Benson] is into saving cats and shit. She's a really nice lady and I wouldn't want to contaminate her brain with a lot of this stuff. But Kelli Giddish [Detective Amanda Rollins] likes it and gets it. She's got a cool boyfriend that demanded the record. The cool thing about being on Law & Order is all those people hear everything I do. They gotta put up with me and my creativity.
If you had to choose TV or music, which would it be?—Rick Richardson
Television is a guaranteed check. You get on a show, they give you 23 episodes. That's 23 checks. In entertainment, it's hard to get anything that's secure and solid. When you do a record, you spend a year of your life betting on a project that you don't get paid for if it doesn't sell. So TV and movies are much more secure. The way things are right now with piracy in music, I gotta do television for the money. I also love the art of acting. But TV's for the money and I do music to remain sane. Now, if I was independently wealthy and I could pick one and money wasn't involved, of course I'd pick music. There's nothing like standing on the stage and having people adore you. Being a rock star is like being a god. I don't think God has as much fun as rock stars. The energy that comes from the stage is fuckin' immense. But there's a flipside. Don't suck—because having 15,000 people boo you could basically put you on a toilet with your wrists cut.
