Ice-T has reformed his controversial heavy metal band Body Count and is
finishing up a new album tentatively titled Violent Demise – The Last Days.
“It’s about street sh*t. It’s about b*tches,” Ice-T told AllHipHop.com. “I’m
just trying to bring back that sinister, evil, violent sounding metal. I
listen to the other rock-rap groups, but they’re not as evil as BC. We sound
a lil’ more sinister.”
The group, known for the heat it took after releasing 1992’s “Cop Killer,” was
on a lengthy hiatus due to internal problems in the group.
“Body Count stopped because of death,” Ice-T told AllHipHop.com. “Beat
Master V, the drummer, died of leukemia and Moose Man got killed in the
hood. He was in his neighborhood and some n*ggas just rolled up on him and
blasted him. He lived in a gang area. He got hit in the back running. What
happened with the loss of two members, we couldn’t get that chemistry with
new players and so it took a while.”
Ice also attributed the group’s temporary lay off due to the group members
success and the state of the world, saying that war and terrorism actually revitalized the group.
“We came out, we made so much money, it was hard for them n*ggas to come to
rehearsal. They ain’t been stars in awhile so they ready to work. Plus war
kinda brought back that energy we needed. September 11 really did it for
that energy we needed for Body Count to exist,” Ice continued. “We’re a real aggressive band
and with everybody happy and ‘bling bling, with rims spinning, we sound a
lil’ angry.”
The new members are OT, the drummer and a new bass player named Vincent
Price. With the additional members, Ice-T said that Body Count is now
among the rare all black heavy metal bands.
Body Count drew intense heat from law makers when they first released their
self titled debut album.
In July of 1992, 1,100 shareholders crammed into Time Warner’s annual
meeting. Police representatives and other critics blasted the company for
releasing “Cop Killer” over a five hour session. Even NRA honcho Charlton
Heston joined in, denouncing Time Warner for shipping the song to radio.
The subsequent pressure led Time Warner to drop the group. Ice-T has since
taken an independent route to his music, releasing his albums on the
Internet and most recently signing a deal for his Final Level Entertainment
with New York based indie, Penalty Associated Labels.
“With the computers, you can cut a record pretty cheap now,” Ice said. “My
thing with records now is get the money, finish the record and then sell the
record. I’m not into the A&R thing.”