BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ice-T. Introduction. In Trick Baby: The Story of a
White Negro (1967), by Iceberg Slim. Edinburgh:
Payback-Canongate, 1996.
Scott Bunyan
Ice-T (1959– )
Ice-T (née Tracy Morrow), who was born in New-
ark, New Jersey, has been one of the most en-
during icons of hip-hop culture. His career has
spanned music, movies, and television for two
decades. After the death of his parents in an au-
tomobile accident, Ice-T went to California to
be raised by family members. He was attracted
to hip-hop while attending Los Angeles’s Cren-
shaw High School. As a teen he danced with break
dancers and pop lockers. Additionally, the gangs
and pimps in the Los Angeles area influenced him.
He eventually adopted the name Ice-T, which he
took from the name of one of his favorite novel-
ists, ICEBERG SLIM.
Ice-T’s early career featured several 12-inch
singles and movie appearances in Rappin’, Breakin’,
and Breakin’ II. In 1987 he signed a record deal
with Sire Records (a subsidiary of Time-Warner)
and released Rhyme Pays. He followed up his debut
album with Power in 1988, released under Ice-T’s
own label, Rhyme Syndicate. A year later Ice-T ex-
posed his fans to his political critique and analysis
on his third album The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech
... Just Watch What You Say.
New Jack City, a film by Mario Van Peebles,
would be Ice-T’s first role in a major film. Ice-T
portrayed a police officer who was determined to
take down drug kingpin Nino Brown. The mov-
ie’s theme song “New Jack Hustler,” in which he
unabashedly made known his political ideology,
with such lyrics as “In my brain I got a capitalist
migraine,” earned Ice-T a Grammy nomination.
The following year he released his most successful
album, O.G. Original Gangster.
In 1992 Ice-T began performing with his rock
band Body Count. Body Count became the focal
point of political controversy around its song “Cop
Killer,” which narrated the frustration of an African
American who seeks revenge for police brutality.
Numerous law enforcement agencies, the National
Rifle Association, and politicians protested the
song, eventually prompting Time-Warner to re-
move the song from the album. In the aftermath
of this experience, Ice-T lectured at several major
universities on freedom of speech.
Ice-T would release several more albums
throughout the 1990s, but none were as success-
ful as his first four releases. More recently Ice-T’s
musical career has been overshadowed by his suc-
cesses in the movie and television industry. He has
appeared in a number of films, including Ricochet
(1991), in which he starred with Denzel Washing-
ton; Surviving the Game (1994); Johnny Mnemonic
(1995); and others. He has appeared on numer-
ous television shows including the hip-hop crime
drama series New York Undercover. Ice-T currently
stars on NBC’s award-winning series Law and
Order. He has also hosted a documentary titled
Pimpin’ 101 (2003) that introduces the viewer to
the “science of pimping.” Ice-T’s impact, appeal,
and success as rapper-actor has helped define hip-
hop culture as a major sociopolitical voice of 20th-
century America.BIBLIOGRAPHY
Erlewine, S. T. “Ice-T.” Available online. URL: http://
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/ice_t/bio.jhtml. Accessed
October 17, 2006.
Higa, B. “Early Los Angeles Hip Hop.” In The Vibe
History of Hip Hop, 111–119. New York: Random
House, 1997.
Kamau RashidIf He Hollers Let Him Go
Chester Himes (1945)
CHESTER HIMES uses Robert Jones, the protagonist
of his first novel, If He Hollers Let Him Go, to ex-
pose the impact of racism on America and Ameri-
can lives in the mid-20th century. In this novel,
Himes begins an exploration of his premise and
conviction that American racism is, at its core, ab-
surd, as he explains in his autobiography, My Life
of Absurdity. Himes wrote:If He Hollers Let Him Go 263