Today we're celebrating Ice-T's 63rd birthday!
Tracy Marrow aka Ice -T is one of hip hop’s most famous renaissance men. Starting out as a street pimp, Ice has made his mark in a plethora of avenues in the entertainment industry.
After a successful and controversial music career, Marrow took a stab at acting. He hasn’t looked back since.
In an ironic twist, the man who wrote songs slamming the police for their unjust treatment of minorities has added minutes onto his 15 by playing a slew of cops in various television shows and movies.
For the past 18 years, Ice has had a supporting role on the NBC hit, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. As a former narc, Odafin Tutuola, Ice-T has won two NAACP Image Awards for his portrayal. Although he’s lived his life as an open book, we’re going to hedge our bets and say you probably don’t know everything there is to know about the man known as Ice-T. Take a look a few facts we unearthed.
Check out 5 things you probably didn't know about Ice-T.
1. New Jersey is Ice-T’s birthplace.
Despite repping L.A. to the death, Ice-T first appeared on the planet in Newark, New Jersey. He wasn’t a resident of Jersey for long so that is the main reason he doesn’t mention it much. In an interview he elucidated,
“I was born in Newark, New Jersey, but I went to school in L.A. So ain’t no sense in claiming New Jersey. I didn’t run the streets there.”
2. Ice-T served in the Army.
By the time Marrow thought about joining the Army, he had a daughter to take care of. His stealing of car stereos and selling marijuana didn’t put a dent in the bills he had piling up. Marrow decided to enlist once he heard of the financial rewards that came along with enlisting. Ice served in the 25th Infantry and was honorably discharged.
“I did four years in the military. And when I came out of the military, I got right into trouble.”
3. He hates the movies Breakin and Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Ice-T told Aimee Mann to eat a hot bowl of dicks when she expressed her distaste for his acting abilities on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. As angry as he got at her for slamming him, he was harsher on his earlier acting roles. Ice has stated in numerous interviews how bad he thinks those Breakin movies were. He said the films were wack and his acting was worse. We’ll say his acting in Breakin was better than whatever he’d like to say he was doing in Leprechaun in the Hood.
4. Ice-T shares a Grammy with Quincy Jones and Ray Charles.
In 1991, Quincy Jones brought together an elite group of artists for an track called, “Back On The Block.” Among the artists featured on the song are greats like Big Daddy Kane, Kool Moe Dee, Ray Charles, and Melle Mel. Jones’ vision for the project was to bridge the gap between soul, funk, and rap. While any other musician would treat their Grammy like a prized possession, Ice showed that wasn’t the case for him.
When he allowed into his home for MTV Cribs, we saw the Grammy broken sitting on the kitchen counter. How’s that for anti-establishment?
5. The last five albums Ice-T has dropped have been on his own label, Rhyme Syndicate/Coroner Records.
We all remember the controversy surrounding Ice when he released “Cop Killer.” After coming under fire from his label, Warner Brothers Records, and the American public, Ice started his own label.
Rhyme Syndicate which later became Coroner Records was behind the delivery of albums such as O.G. Original Gangster. Pimpin’ might not be easy, but he has made handling business look that way.
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