Happy 25th: Body Count, BODY COUNT

25 years ago today, Ice-T stepped away from rap temporarily and released the self-titled debut album from his heavy metal band.

Having spent the late ‘80s and early ‘90s building up his rep as a top-notch rapper, it was a surprise to many when Ice-T decided that he wanted to go in a different direction and try his hand at a different type of music.

As he wrote in his 1994 book The Ice Opinion:

“I knew we didn’t want to form an R&B group. We knew Body Count had to be a rock band. The name alone negates the band from being R&B. I knew I couldn’t sing, but then I thought, ‘Who can sing in rock ‘n’ roll? We named the group Body Count because every Sunday night in L.A., I’d watch the news, and the newscasters would tally up the youths killed in gang homicides that week and then just segue into sports. ‘Is that all I am?’ I thought. ‘A body count?’”

Body Count made their live debut on the 1991 Lollapalooza tour, with Ice-T blowing people’s minds while simultaneously expanding them by making them realize that he was about more than just rap. Unfortunately, the band found far more attention – predominantly of the negative variety – when the media latched onto their song “Cop Killer,” which in turn led to public outrage over the track. To Ice-T, the song was a protest record, one sung by a character who’s grown weary of police brutality, and he cited Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” as being part of his inspiration. Unfortunately, individuals with louder voices and less open minds spoke out against the song – stand up, please, Tipper Gore – and Ice-T eventually had the BODY COUNT album reissued without the offending track, later making it available as a free single.

For those who may not have been paying attention, Body Count is still a going concern, having just released a new album earlier this month, but their first album remains their greatest statement to date. It’s just a shame that so much of it is still so relevant 25 years down the line.