Ice-T — Rhyme Pays

Tracy Lauren Marrow was born in Newark, New Jersey, son of Solomon and Alice Marrow, both died of heart attacks while he was young after the family moved to Summit, New Jersey. Marrow then went to live with his uncles in Los Angeles, where through the music he listened to from a cousin, he began to become passionate about heavy metal.

Attending Crenshaw High School at a time when gangs were spreading through the school, Marrow became affiliated with the Crips and began to be interested in the novels of Iceberg Slim, from which his future moniker, Ice-T, was derived. In 1975, Marrow moved out on his own, then in October 1977 he enlisted in the army after the birth of his daughter, a period during which the young man began to take an interest in hip-hop music. In December 1979, Ice-T managed to get an early honorable discharge as a single father and returned home, deciding to work as a DJ at parties. He later returned to a life of crime, committing robberies with some friends: while they ended up in prison, Ice-T had a car accident and was hospitalized. Once released, he chose to abandon crime and pursue a career as a rapper. A few days after being released from the hospital, Ice-T won an open mic contest judged by Kurtis Blow.

In 1982, Ice-T met Willie Strong, a producer at Saturn Records. The following year, Ice-T released his first single, "Cold Wind Madness", also known as "The Coldest Rap", an electro hip-hop recording that was rejected by radio stations that did not play it because of its explicit lyrics and became a sensation in the underground circuit. That same year, Ice-T wrote the electro hip-hop club hit "Body Rock" (on Electrobeat Records) and was a guest on "Reckless", a single by DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor that became the main theme song for the film "Breakin'". The success of the song led to "Reckless Rivalry (Combat)" for the movie's sequel, "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo", however the song did not make it onto the soundtrack and ended up being released only as a single by Taxidermi Records.

The following year, the rapper appeared in the movie "Rappin'" performing a couple of verses from his single "Killers", his first political song. After releasing more singles with Electrobeat Records ("Colder Than Ever" and "Go Off"), in 1986 he signed with Techno Hop Records, releasing "Ya Don't Quit" and "Dog'n the Wax", sequel to "Ya Don't Quit", songs with a sound similar to those of Run-DMC and Beastie Boys. After hearing the seminal hit "PSK What Does It Mean?" by Schoolly D in a club, Ice-T was inspired by the song and decided to change his style, approaching that of the Philadelphia emcee and creating his first gangsta rap song, "6 in the Mornin'", creating a minimal production with his Roland TR-808 and inserting the song as the b-side of the single "Dog'n the Wax".

While the single caused controversy for its unusually violent lyrics for the time, the b-side was more successful and was extended further for his first album. Ice-T later made a breakthrough and managed to sign with Sire Records, a subsidiary of major label Warner Bros. Records. Sire founder and president Seymour Stein compared Ice-T to Bob Dylan after hearing his demo.

In 1987, Ice-T released his debut studio album. Entirely produced by DJ Afrika Islam, with scratches by DJ Evil "E", Ice-T's DJ, the album features thirteen tracks and a total of three quarters of an hour of music. The bare drum machine chosen by Afrika Islam to compose his set releases hard, discreet, minimal sounds, which manage to adequately support Ice-T's energetic rap, which reaches one of his career peaks on side A, churning out raw, fresh and intelligent bars with a narrative that will give birth to the gangsta rap genre, despite the fact that there's little gangsta in this album apart from the hit "6 'n the Mornin'", which according to specialized critics defines the gangsta rap subgenre.

The first part of this effort is among the best of the hip-hop season, practically flawless, however it's followed by a quite weak B-side: the violent and simple rhythms designed by Afrika Islam start to become rapidly monotonous, while the emcee sounds more and more threatening and explicit, without excelling anymore as happened in the previous half hour. Ice-T definitely lowers the quality level, especially in the senseless, vivid and pornographic raps, delivered with a youthful unawareness that wants to be naive, probably. The lyrics of this second part are mediocre and not very brilliant, compensated by a presence and a raw energy on the microphone. He partially picks up the pace with the last track, thus compensating for pieces that are a bit below average if not terrible.

The first album to be released by Sire under Warner Bros. distribution achieved a remarkable sales response, entering the R&B chart (#26) and the top 100 positions in the pop chart, reaching gold certification in 1991. Critics also praised the release in retrospect, believing that the album helped move hardcore rap from the East to the West Coast following the success of the product, helping to bring attention to the West Coast scene as well.

Rating: 7.5/10.