Ice-T on What Is the ‘Last Bastion of Art Left’ in Music

What is the “last bastion of art left in the music industry” and where can you find it? According to Body Count frontman Ice-T, live entertainment is the side being a rock and metal band where you truly find the art these days.

“I see live entertainment being really the last bastion of art left in the music industry,” the musician tells Full Metal Jackie on her weekend radio show. “When it comes the live concerts, [the people] turned out.”

“I think that live performance is the last place for music right now,” he adds. “No one watches videos, so get out there on the road and tour and give the people a show.”

Ice checked in after Body Count’s European touring in support of their new album, Merciless and his tips a bit of what’s in store for 2025 as well.

Speaking of the Merciless album, Ice-T broaches the topic of approaching difficult subject matter, shares some insight on the recent songs “F*** What You Heard” and “Psychopath” and he shares the directive he’s given Body Count that raises their bar musically.

The multi-talented artist also discusses the crossover between his acting gig on Law & Order: SVU and his music and shares which of his co-stars have shown their appreciation for heavier music.

Check out more of the chat below.

It’s Full Metal Jackie. I am so excited because today we’ve got the legendary ice-T here to talk about Body Count’s new album, Merciless. Ice, in 2024, it seems there’s no shortage of topical events that could use addressing in a manner that Body Count does so well. Has there ever been a topic or idea that got so complicated to break down into a song that you decided against trying to do it? Or has there been a song that required your extra analysis and time to take a beat before you could really approach what you wanted to say?

Yeah, there’s a lot of topics that I don’t necessarily go after because it’s too complex. There’s no right way to address it without somebody saying [something]. Some things I’ve learned that even though I am controversial, there’s some I stay away from. I’m gonna be honest, because if I don’t really have an opinion one way or another, then I try to let it go. So I try to stick to stuff that I really have strong opinions about.

Body Count, “Psychopath”

ice, you recently posted a photo to your socials of yourself with Tom Morello. And it got me thinking that Body Count’s start came just a bit before Rage Against the Machine. Both bands are great about addressing political and social issues. But do you feel perhaps that Body Count doesn’t get the credit they deserve for being an outspoken voice in the early ’90s, where other acts that came along later seem to have gotten more notice?

No. People always say you deserve more credit. I get enough credit. We got our fans. People love us.

The story that goes along with the Rage Against the Machine thing is, Tom was friends with Ernie C. and Tom brought Ernie to see Rage when they were just starting. Ernie said he wanted them to open for one of our shows, and they opened.

I saw them at soundcheck, and I said, “That’s not an opening act.” Zack [de la Rocha] and them killed it. We came to New York and we did another show together. So we’re bonded with Tom.

There’s no jealousy or envy or anything there. We’re just proud that they took off into the stratosphere, but we’re always going to be friends and brothers, you know? Tom had me induct Rage into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So that shows right there, we’re still tight.

Ice, in one of your recent promotional videos for the new album, you spoke about the band’s approach to music. He basically told his group, “Make something that’s so dope that I don’t have to sing.” Body Count is such a killer band, and now we know a bit of why. How has setting that standard raised the bar for the band and made all the guys amazing players?

I do the same thing with hip hop. I’m like, “If you’re a producer and you can make a track that’s so great that you don’t need vocals when the vocalist gets on, he’ll take it to another level.” The kind of metal we do is very lyric based. It’s one of those types of groups where you can hear everything I’m saying. You should. I want you to hang on every word I say.

So let’s start with the music. If you can make the music incredible, and then I can jump on with my lyrics, I think we’ll have something. The thing of it is, you could sing over anything, but let’s give them a bar that they have to reach.

Will Putney is an incredible producer, and he knows what Body Count should sound like. I’ve always said Body Count is a cross between the aggression and speed of Slayer. Add that with the impending doom of a Black Sabbath and then the punk sensibility is Suicidal [Tendencies], and you got Body Count.

READ MORE: The Producer Ice-T Calls ‘The Dr. Dre of Metal’

I call our band Grindhouse, which is kind of like a Tarantino movie. The track, the music is so outrageous, if you don’t get the humor in it, it might scare the hell out of you.

It’s Full Metal Jackie, Ice-T with us. ne of Body Count’s most recent songs, “F*** What You Heard” is much needed and really hits home in this political season. There’s so much political divide and messaging directed solely to one side or the other. The split seems to have grown more intense by the year. What is the message you’d like to get out there to voters? And do you see anything that might bring a path to more bipartisanship in the U.S.?

Well, first off,, my message is not to voters. It’s just to people. I’m not a politician. People say, Ice, you should get in politics. I’m like, “Well, I got out of crime” and when I say f what you heard, both wings are on the same bird.

I’m very aware that the Republicans have some policies that I can’t agree with, the abortion thing, all that craziness. And then also there’s some Democratic stuff that’s crazy, So my thing is, they’re all government. When I say both wings are on the same bird, I say government.

When you pay taxes, do you pay it to the Republicans or do you pay it to the Democrats? If you go to federal prison, are you going to a republican place or a democratic place? You’re going to the government. And at the end of the day, somebody’s getting rich and it’s not the people.

So just pay attention. And if you call that bipartisan, I call it just thinking with your own mind and making your own decisions. That’s just what I call it.

They like to give it names, the people come at me. “Oh, you’re a liberal.” I’m like, “Well, am I? I don’t know. Am I Conservative? I don’t know.” Conservative always sound weird to me, but I know what’s right and wrong, and I have my own beliefs. So that’s what the song is about.

Let’s not gang bang. And it was funny because the fact that the Democrats actually wear blue and the Republicans, they wear red. And I’m like, this is just like gang mentality, you know? So I drew that comparison for the song.

Body Count, “F*** What You Heard”

Ice. I love that there’s a family affair on this new album. “Psychopath” brings your extended family into the picture in such a cool way. What was your day like getting Chanel and Coco to scream on “Psychopath”?

Now, the funny thing about the scream thing is Chanel can scream. She would scream in the car. Her and her girlfriend would be in a car trying to outscreen each other, you know. So I was like, “I’m going to put a scream on the record. That’s some blood curdling scream you got.”

So we also have Joe Bad on that record, who’s from Fit For an Autopsy. But he’s also one of the groups that Will Putney produced. So we’re in that group over there with Will Putney’s bands, all his hardcore bands and all his metal bands.

So Joe just jumped on and then I said, “You know, we need screams right here because Body Count is also theatrical.” I want my music to be visual. So I just told Coco and them, I said, “Look, go in the bathroom, take that phone, and I want you to scream like I’m chasing you with a chainsaw.”

And she screamed and I got it and I gave it the Will and he put it in the record and it is what it is. At the end of the day, this is entertainment. That’s what it is. I think we entertain people with it.

When we went on tour, I was cutting little Ice’s throat and he was spitting up blood onstage. So I got a different kind of family.

I have to ask, you come from such an entertainment background, having mastered the rap game in the ’80s, showing your rock and metal roots with Body Count and transitioning over the world of acting with a long running steady gig on SVU and this leads up to my next question. You are so great at working an audience, and I’m sure all those experiences play into that. What is your thought on the state of live performances from bands in 2024? Do you see the entertainers that were there when you were growing up?

I see live entertainment being really the last bastion of art left in the music industry. None of us are making any money selling records anymore after the way they destroyed us with streaming, the way the record labels went at it. The internet has kind of made people feel music is free. People get on the internet, they scroll and buy anything that’s free. As soon as it says pay, they back out. Even on a porn site, as soon as it’s time to pay, I back out. We’re not paying for anything. So that’s how people are right now with music.

But when it comes the live concerts, they turned out. Now we just came from Europe and did a nice tour. Everything sold out, and the crowds were sick. No pun intended. They were crazy. After Covid, people are starving for live entertainment.

I was out there with Machine Head onstage. It seemed like they blew up. I seemed like they were trying to blow up as much stuff as Rammstein. I was like, “Yo, it was burning, blowing, bam, boom, boom.” But they gave a show, and I was like, “Wow, I got a strobe light, these mothers explode fire bombs.”

I think that live performance is the last place for music right now. No one watches videos, so get out there on the road and tour and give the people a show.

What would you like to see more of in the live setting? Do you feel that there’s the same level in bands today that matches some of the great performers of yesteryear?

Yeah, I think you’re the same level. You’re not going to have another James Brown. But a lot of the stuff that we’re seeing … I think also some people are slacking. Especially in hip hop. Kids are out there, they’re playing their tracks back and just kind of lip syncing it.

I can tell you, the last 2024 tour for us was the most fun we’ve ever had. And we had nothing but an extreme crowd.

You’re asking about the performance? I’m responding to the crowd. Problem is, I don’t get to see the performance. Cause I’m on the stage, so I really can’t say. But I mean, the crowds are reacting. The crowds are reacting. And I didn’t get one bad response from the tour, you know? I think people are coming out to see shows, and I think the artists know that, and they’d be trying to give them a show.

Since I’ve got you, I’m interested if there’s any crossover with your day job besides yourself. Are there any metalheads on the set of SVU or ever had any of your co-stars come check out Body Count shows?

Absolutely. One of the girls that works on my show, her name is Molly. She actually is in a metal band, but she said it fell apart. But all she wears is metal T-shirts every day. She’s tatted up, so she’s hardcore.

Peter Scanavino is a punk rocker. He can go round for round with you in punk rock trivia. He’s hardcore. I had Danny Pino show up at one of my shows in New York City. Richard Belzer, rest in peace, popped up at a Body Count concert.

I don’t really cross it. One thing my Law and Order people do know is that over the break, I play to over a million people, so that means they can’t act like don’t play me cheap. I got a fan base, but I never felt like, if you like my rap, you gotta like my rock or you gotta like my acting. I don’t really care if you don’t like one of them. I’m cool with that. Because you still like me more than you like most people. I’ll take that.

They don’t have to cross over because I do all these different things for my happiness, you know? One makes me happy, the other makes me happy. So I’m just trying to do everything I can do in the short time I’m here, you know? And I think all of us should.

Speaking of the live performances, I’m sure scheduling is tough for you, but do you see a more full fledged Body Count tour coming on this Merciless album? And what songs are you most looking forward to seeing how it goes over live?

As far as touring? Yeah, because of Law and Order, I can only tour for two months. I can tour really from end of April, May into June next summer. We’re looking to do the States. We’ve been going to Europe. The reason we went to Europe is because we had a european tour, 35 shows that got canceled because of COVID So a lot of the shows we did this year were makeup shows. Now we got to come back with Merciless and start in the States. So we’re looking forward to that.

As far as the songs, we didn’t play “What You Heard” in Europe because they don’t have Democrats and Republicans, so we didn’t. But we did play “The Purge.” We played “Comfortably Numb.” We played “Psychopath.”

The problem with body count is when you have 20 years out in and you’re trying to do a set to 60 minutes, you have a lot of music. So people come to the show, but they want to hear “Cop Killer.” They want to hear the classics, too, you know. So making a set list is complicated for us. And that’s a good thing.

That is a good thing. Great problem to have. Ice-T, looking forward to the Merciless record, and I truly appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Merciless. We still got a lot in store for you guys. Some of it’s going to shock you.

Thanks to Ice-T for the interview. You can get the Merciless album through the Body Count website. Stay up to date with the band through their Facebook, X, Instagram and Spotify platforms. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie’s weekend radio show here.