Credit: Alamy

Ice-T has always been a different breed of emcee and has, for the better, never been part of the mainstream hip-hop scene. The LA lyricist, like many others in the culture, has always been a respected name but has never fit into the mould of what a hip-hop artist should be.

Over the years, the industry has brushed aside many MCs for various reasons, and more often than not, it’s because the business cannot label them or creatively control them. Whether it’s Run The Jewels, Ice-T, Talib Kweli, Kevin Abstract, or Danny Brown, many artists get forced out of the game due to their style.

Ice-T was one of these artists. Although he burst onto the Los Angeles hip-hop scene with his debut album, Rhyme Pays, he had a very direct style of rapping designed to take listeners on a journey. Unlike so many musicians today, he contextualised the stories he told and gave listeners an ending rather than jumping straight into a tale of trapping that never ends.

During an interview, Ice-T revealed that he is more prevalent in Europe than in the US because of his rap style and summarised his approach to rap with his favourite Chuck D. Speaking about different approaches to rap that exist, Ice-T explained, “In Europe, the reason they like me is because they consider me a linear rapper. Meaning I rap in a line where point A to Point B can be followed, even if you have to interpret it. Whereas trying to interpret Busta Rhymes or Kool Keith [they’re more stream-of-consciousness].”

The Home Invasion creator then explained the type of hip-hop that is consumed outside of the US and in different parts of the world and detailed how, although he talks about crime, he doesn’t approach it in a simplistic ‘Shoot em up’ way, divulging, “[The Europeans] are more into people like Gangstarr, Public Enemy, stuff that they can follow. And that’s what I try to do. But then, at the same time, if I’m gonna deal with crime or the streets, what I try to do is deal with the complexity of the gangsta or the criminal.”

The Body Count founder even accused a lot of MCs of being fake and attributed much of hip-hop’s recent failures to a lack of real-life understanding of street culture. He detailed how many new-school lyrics are inaccurate, naive representations of what ghetto life is like, rapped by people with no actual experience. 

Espousing this harsh take, Ice-T asserted, “So a lot of these people that rap it, they never lived it. So their theory of what it is, is: I’ve got a gun, I’m gonna rob this bank, da-da-da-da.'”

Ice-T declared that whenever he raps, it is always because he has something to say, and reaffirmed that his verses will always have meaning, stating, “I think all Ice-T albums have a concept. This shit means something. I think the most powerful lyrics I ever heard was when Chuck D. says, ‘I don’t rhyme for the sake of riddling.’ Which means that there’s a meaning behind this sh*t. This doesn’t just rhyme because it rhymes. It rhymes because there’s a context.”

The Chuck D line Ice-T referenced is from the Public Enemy song ‘Don’t Believe The Hype’ on which Chuck D rhymes, “Yes to them, but to me I’m a different kind / We’re brothers of the same mind, unblind / Caught in the middle and not surrenderin’/ I don’t rhyme for the sake of riddlin’!”