Elon Musk has had a day, alright. First, his SpaceX rocket experienced “rapid unscheduled disassembly”/exploded. Then he finally put his plan in motion to strip legacy verified Twitter users of their Blue checkmarks if they hadn’t signed over $8 per month for Twitter Blue. This means that Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are no longer verified, which is a bizarre thing to behold. The takedown wasn’t universal, though. Stephen King and Ice-T discovered that they have retained Blue checkmarks, but both of them insist that they didn’t pay for the enduring symbol.
Both Ice and King have also been vocal about their intent not to pay up, and on 4/20 (yep), they’re calling shenanigans on whatever is happening behind the Twitter scenes with their accounts.
“My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t,” the horror maestro wrote. “My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.”
My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t. My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.
Ice-T is a well-known figure in both the acting and music communities. He’s made his claim to fame through the rap game. Born Tracy Morrow, Ice also participated in many movies, TV series, talk shows, and more. He’s almost on the screen as much as he’s behind the microphone, so it’s no wonder his résumé is lengthy. Since the early ’90s, Ice-T has appeared in multiple roles, spanning various genres, focuses, and stories. We’ll closely examine some of Ice-T’s most significant acting roles to date.
Ice-T: Early Career
Ice Cube and Ice-T holding guns in a scene from the film ‘Trespass’, 1992. (Photo by Universal Pictures/Getty Images)
Ice-T began acting in small roles throughout the ’80s. These were in movies such as Breakin and Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo. From there, he began a long and surprisingly robust career, making his way in movies to gain notoriety and build fame on not only one front but two. His plan to build within two different industries is admirable, and he has not lost face in either once since the genesis of his career.
New Jack City (1991)
In 1991, Ice-T starred in New Jack City, which is considered one of his greatest acting roles. The film was a critical and commercial success and helped to establish Ice-T as a serious actor. In the film, he played the role of Scotty Appleton, a detective who is trying to bring down a drug lord played by Wesley Snipes. Ice-T’s performance was praised for its intensity and authenticity, and he brought a sense of street smarts and grit to the role.
Trespass (1992)
In 1992, Ice-T starred in Trespass, a thriller directed by Walter Hill. In the film, he played the role of King James, a gang leader who is searching for a stolen treasure. Ice-T’s performance was praised for its intensity and authenticity, and he brought a sense of danger and unpredictability to the role.
Surviving the Game (1994)
In 1994, the Rap icon also starred in Surviving the Game, a survival thriller about a group of homeless men who are hunted for sport by a group of wealthy businessmen. In the film, he played the role of Jack Mason, a homeless man who is recruited to participate in the hunt. Ice-T’s performance was praised for its toughness and vulnerability, and he brought a sense of realism to the role.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
In 2000, Ice-T joined the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Detective Odafin Tutuola. He has been a regular on the show for over 20 seasons and has become a fan favorite. Ice-T’s performance has been praised for its humor and emotional depth. Ice-T’s performance as Detective Tutuola in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit is well-regarded due to his authenticity and charisma. He brings a unique perspective to the role as a former gang member and rapper, and his chemistry with other cast members further adds depth and realism to the show. Overall, Ice-T’s performance is praised for its combination of toughness and vulnerability, making his character a fan favorite.
The Simpsons
In 2007, Ice-T made a guest appearance on The Simpsons as himself. In the episode, he helps Bart and Milhouse create a prank phone call to Moe’s Tavern. Ice-T’s performance was also praised for its humor and self-awareness. Hisguest appearance on The Simpsons is memorable and entertaining. He brings humor and wit to his portrayal, poking fun at his own image as a rapper and his tough-guy persona.
30 Rock
In 2010, Ice-T made a guest appearance on 30 Rock as himself. In the episode, he plays Tracy Jordan’s brother and helps him prepare for a celebrity poker tournament. Additionally, Ice-T’s performance was praised for its humor and energy, and he showed that he is comfortable playing himself on screen.
Equal Standard (2020)
Ice-T portrays Captain Ron Perry in the crime thriller Equal Standard about police brutality and racial tension. His intense and relevant performance received acclaim for its authenticity. He also effectively navigates the complexities of race and policing, including a powerful scene where he interacts with an angry young Black man. He impresses with his ability to wield authority with grace and calmness, displaying versatility as an actor. In Equal Standard, Ice-T reminds us of his talent for tackling complex social issues on screen.
Bloodthirsty (2021)
Bloodthirsty is a horror film about a young singer who discovers that she has a dark secret. Ice-T makes a cameo appearance as a record executive named Vaughn Daniels. While his role in this film is small, Ice T brings his trademark intensity to the character. He also adds an extra layer of depth to the film. Even with limited speaking parts and appearances, Ice-T makes his mark.
Further, his on-screen presence itself holds value, not just his actions, contributing to his success. In Bloodthirsty, Ice-T impresses by briefly but convincingly portraying menace. His character signals plot developments. Ice-T lends gravitas to the record executive role and hints at secret knowledge. This film showcases his ability to make a significant impact even in a small role.
Law & Order: Organized Crime (2021- )
In 2021, Ice-T reprised his role as Detective Tutuola in the spin-off series Law & Order: Organized Crime. The show follows the character of Elliot Stabler as he returns to the NYPD to take on a new unit. Ice-T’s performance in the show has been praised as he continues to be a standout performer on the series. One of the best parts about Ice-T’s performance in the series is his ability to bring a sense of humor. He also provides a much-needed counterbalance to the seriousness of the show’s subject matter. It takes skill to translate a personal aura into a pointed improvement on a character.
To summarize, Ice T is a versatile actor who has proven himself to be a force to be reckoned. Ice T has consistently delivered powerful performances. With his recent roles, it’s clear that he still has a lot to offer. Ice T always brings his A-game to the screen.
Amazon Music is paying tribute to Queen Latifah with a short film called Generational Queens. The film will honor Latifah for her 1993 women’s empowerment anthem, “U.N.I.T.Y.,” which turns 30 this year. Amazon Music honors rapper/actress Queen Latifah with a short film titled Generational Queens. The film will highlight Latifah’s 1993 hit, “U.N.I.T.Y.,” which turns […]
He’s been around the Hip Hop block with a career that has outlasted several of his peers, and Ice-T dropped off an interesting opinion about the evolution of the culture. It has shaped up to be a busy season for the hitmaker as he has celebrated his accolades. Ice-T received his star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame amid the Grammys tribute in honor of Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary. Understandably, outlets have been clamoring to speak with him about where the genre has landed in this generation.
In a chat with Variety, the outlet noted that Ice-T received a Grammy nomination as recently as 2020. It was in connection with his group Body Count, but Ice was asked why he stopped making solo records after 2006. “Hip Hop changed. The music got goofy to me,” said the Rap icon. “The kids started looking weird. It all turned into something I wasn’t comfortable with.”
Ice-T Reflects On The Shift In Hip Hop
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 17: Ice-T attends a ceremony as he is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 17, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
“There was a point where I was selling tons of records, then it cooled off. I felt a certain way,” Ice continued. However, he recognized he wasn’t the only artist with that problem. “Then I realized Public Enemy, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, and Wu-Tang Clan weren’t selling records, either. There was a paradigm shift. These kids got softer, and soft is not something I’m able to give audiences.”
“The first word in Hip Hop is ‘hip’ so how something stays hip for over ten years is difficult,” he continued. “Besides, I still do my ‘Ice-T: Art of Rap’ shows, which is my legacy Hip Hop. Think of it like seeing Frank Sinatra. You want to hear the classics.” Elsewhere, he also acknowledges he has been acting in various aspects of his career since its inception, including his 1990s hit, “Cop Killer.” Ice-T is one of the longest-running actors on Law & Order, and he told Variety his talents stretched to his music career.
Ice-T Explains Acting In His Music Career
CHICAGO – 1988: Rapper and actor Ice-T poses for a photo after his performance at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
“I’m acting in both. I never killed a cop. In ‘Cop Killer,’ I play a man who was mad at the police,” said Ice-T. “Snapped and went after them based on police brutality. That’s acting. Where the media glossed it, is when they said that it was really Ice-T saying to go kill the police. I didn’t do that. The same is true of SVU. I’m not a cop. I’m the furthest thing from a cop. As far as the dilemma with police now — yeah, it is difficult.”
Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” remains one of the most iconic anthems in hip-hop music of the last 20 years. There’s not a time when that song kicks off at any event and people aren’t singing along word-for-word. However, the catchiest part of the song isn’t something that Jay came up with himself. He actually paid homage to Ice-T and 2 Live Crew’s Brother Marquis who delivered a song of the same name 1992 album, Home Invasion.
Over the years, there’s been a debate surrounding the use of the line. While Jay faced accusations in the past of ripping lines off of Biggie, many felt as though he did the same to Ice-T, especially since not everyone knew where the line came from. “Why Jay Z never said, ‘This is Ice-T’s song,’ and showed me some love, I don’t know,” Ice T said in a 2014 interview. “I’m friends with Jay. I met him with Big Daddy Kane. I would have handled the situation differently. If I use your music, I want to let people know.”
Jay-Z Patches Things Up With Ice-T
That particular interview resurfaced in November and it appears that it caught the attention of Hov. During a recent interview on Big Boy’s Neighborhood, Ice explained that Jay-Z approached him at the Grammys to clarify that he never meant any disrespect towards him. “I’m at the Grammys and JAY-Z comes to me. He says, ‘Ice, you know I love you, right?’” Ice-T recalled Jay telling him at the award show. “I say, ‘Yeah!’
Apparently, Jay wanted to clear up the rumors on the Internet surrounding Ice-T’s issue surrounding the song. “He says, ‘Well, it’s on the internet that you mad.’ I said, ‘I’m not mad! They’re bringing up all kinds of interviews about it and they asked me the story, and I told them the true story,’” Ice-T continued. “He goes, ‘Yeah man, but it’s no hard feelings,’” he continued, explaining that the two dived into their storied history, dating back to Jay’s relationship with Big Daddy Kane.
Though it was all love, he said that he told Jay-Z that he wished he had given him a shout-out. “But I said, ‘Yo, well, you know, when you did ’99 Problems,’ at the end of the record you could’ve said, ‘Ice!’ You could’ve given me a little dap or something!’ I said, ‘But I’m not mad at it. What had happened was people wanted to know the story,’” Ice-T said. Check the interview above.
Legendary MC, Ice-T recently revealed that the icon Jay-Z approached him at the 2023 Grammy Awards and questioned him about some internet beef over his song “99 Problems.”
Arguably one of Jay’s biggest hits, at the top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and going double platinum—the track’s iconic hook (“I got 99 problems, but a bitch ain’t one”) was actually borrowed from Ice-T’s 1993 original of the same name.
The correlation between the two songs came back into focus last November when a video of the gangsta rap pioneer expressing his grief at JAY-Z apparently never acknowledging the source material resurfaced.
“I’m at the Grammys and JAY-Z comes to me. He says, ‘Ice, you know I love you, right?’” Ice-T said during a visit to Big Boy’s Neighborhood. “I say, ‘Yeah!’ He says, ‘Well, it’s on the internet that you mad.’ I said, ‘I’m not mad! They’re bringing up all kinds of interviews about it and they asked me the story, and I told them the true story.’
“He goes, ‘Yeah man, but it’s no hard feelings.’ And he started talking about how me and him — ’cause I met JAY-Z way back in the day. Big Daddy Kane brought JAY-Z to my house back in the day when he was starting out. I used to take Jay around, roll my car, him and Dame Dash, so we’re friends.”
He added: “But I said, ‘Yo, well, you know, when you did ’99 Problems,’ at the end of the record you could’ve said, ‘Ice!’ You could’ve given me a little dap or something!’ I said, ‘But I’m not mad at it. What had happened was people wanted to know the story.’”
Ice-T then proceeded to tell the story behind “99 Problems,” explaining how 2 Live Crew’s Brother Marquis — who appears on his 1993 track — coined the phrase, before Chris Rock suggested JAY-Z remake the song more than a decade later.
“I’m in my house with Brother Marquis, I’m at my studio,” he began. “We were talking about ‘Whoomp! (There It Is).’ Now, ‘Whoomp! (There It Is)’ comes from Magic City. The Tag Team were the DJs at Magic City, and when the girls would bend over, they’d say, ‘Whoomp, there it is!’
“So Marquis says to me, ‘N-gga, I’m sitting there all them nights in Magic City, that was the phrase that pays!’ Then outta nowhere, he goes, ‘Man, I got 99 problems and a bitch ain’t one.’ I said, ‘What did you just say?’ I said, ‘That’s a song!’”
He continued: “Now, as the legend goes, Rick Rubin and Jay were getting ready to make a record and Chris Rock was around, and they said, ‘What record should we remake?’ And Chris Rock brought up ’99 Problems.’ JAY-Z remade the song, he changed the verses, but he even took the ‘hit me!’ So he did it. No harm, no foul.”
“It was a publishing deal. At that time, my publishing was owned, I think, by Warner Chappell or Universal. It paid, I had a deal and that was it,” he said. “I didn’t come out saying, ‘Oh, JAY-Z went after’ — this, that. But now we’re in the social media era and they’re like, ‘Let’s see what we can turn into a beef.’ I got no problems with JAY-Z … Jay didn’t steal it.
“If you listen to The Seventh Deadly Sin, JAY-Z does an intro for me. He’s on there talking, ‘Yo, Ice. What’s up, yo?’ I have no beef with JAY-Z whatsoever, it’s just how it happened … I love JAY-Z. JAY-Z is a very supernatural human being.” Watch the interview below.
Ice-T’s 2023 has already been quite an eventful one. Along with getting his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he was also recognized at The Grammys. In early February, he performed in the Hip-Hop’s 50th Anniversary celebration at the award show. From Queen Latifah to Lil Uzi Vert, all eras of rap were acknowledged in their performance. As a matter of fact, in a recent episode the Holdin’ Court Podcast, Ice-T says more artists were meant to be included. “When we did the show, Lil Wayne was in the show, but then he didn’t actually do the performance,” he said. “Something happened on the red carpet. Future was sitting at my table. He was supposed to perform (too), he didn’t perform.”
Either way, the Grammys Hip-Hop display was still an excellent one. Furthermore, while still speaking on the Holdin’ Court Podcast, Ice-T talked a little bit about the recent Super Bowl. After the Kansas City Chiefs knocked off the Philadelphia Eagles, Ice-T had tons of praise for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“I made a point never to bet against Mahomes. He’s a magician,” Ice-T said. Mahomes threw for 182 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 38-35 victory. Additionally, he ran for 44 yards on 6 carries. What made this feat particularly spectacular was that Mahomes’ ankle was injured all throughout the playoffs. He re-tweaked the injury during the Super Bowl, but continued playing. However, Ice-T was skeptical about the severity of the injury.
Referred specifically to a late-game run Mahomes had to seal the victory, Ice-T was not convinced Pat was debilitated. .”I think that was an okie-doke,” he said. “The 42 fake. He went on the sideline like, ‘Oh no I’m hurt. I’m hurt.’ He ran like 30 yards! He said, ‘I bet they think I’m hurt. Oh, I’m gone!’” Regardless of the legitimacy of the ankle injury, though, Ice-T still respected Mahomes’ talent. “But he does magic. I’ve seen him with 3 minutes left, score 38 points,” he said. “He’s special, and he doesn’t even look like a football player. He has an arm, and he’s very accurate.” Check out Ice-T’s full discussion about Patrick Mahomes above.
There were dozens of our favorite Hip Hop acts on stage at this year’s Grammy Awards, and Ice-T claims Lil Wayne should have been one of them. Missy Elliott, Public Enemy, Method Man, Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash, Scarface, Lil Uzi Vert, and more came together to celebrate Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary. It was a show unlike any other as generations of the culture banded together, and Weezy was close to adding his name to the list.
“When we did the show, Lil Wayne was in the show, but then he didn’t actually do the performance,” Ice-T shared while on the Holdin’ Court podcast. “Something happened on the red carpet. Future was sitting at my table. He was supposed to perform, he didn’t perform. So, a lot of—” The host interrupted to suggest it was “a little bit of a mess.” Ice replied, “It’s live TV.”
Several artists were asked to perform but didn’t make the show. Ice-T recently said that his scheduling conflicts with Law & Order almost kept him from making an appearance. “I get a call from Questlove and he says, ‘We’re doing a thing in L.A. this weekend. I say, ‘I can’t make it,’” the Rap icon told PEOPLE. “He says, ‘The Grammys.’ And I go, ‘Eh.’ And he goes, ‘You don’t wanna be sitting home Ice, watching it—all your homies—and saying I was invited but I didn’t go. And I got my Black ass on the plane. He put it in perspective. The Grammys didn’t even respect hip-hop for so long. And now, to be here and to be honored like this, we’ll take it.”
Questlove also fired off tweets about the difficulties in rallying these hitmakers. Fans complained in droves, questioning why this or that artist didn’t perform. According to The Roots icon, many were already booked, some simply didn’t want to, and for the third group, Quest didn’t detail those responses. He did suggest there was an August taping that others agreed to, but not the Grammys. Quest was the co-curator for the performance and suggested he struggled with the team to create a full line-up. In the end, most fans seemed more than thrilled, regardless.
As Ice-T accepted his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last Friday, he addressed one aspect of being a star that does not seem to bother him: critics.
The 65-year-old hip-hop artist and actor, who accepted the star alongside his wife Coco and seven-year-old daughter Chanel, discussed cancel culture, addressing how people have been trying to cancel him since the beginning of his career, over four decades ago.
In an interview with Fox News, Ice-T said that people had “been trying to cancel me for 40 years… I’m difficult to cancel,” before continuing to explain that “I’ve already let everybody know all my flaws, all my vices and people rock with it.”
He also addressed online trolls and critics, saying that he turns the negative energy from critics into motivation, sharing his personal philosophy of “when someone tells me you can’t do it, that means I got to do it.” He referred to criticism as fuel, stating that “I eat haters for food.”
In December, the Grammy-winning artist shared an inspirational quote that read: “Everyone is going to hate you anyway…so you might as well give them a reason” with a post that said “Christmas is over.. My advice is you go into 2023 with THIS attitude if you want to WIN.”
Ice-T was joined by several celebrities, including Law and Order: SVU costar Mariska Hargitay, as he accepted his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
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