Ice-T Albums (10)
What The Critics Say
Ice-T's first solo rap CD since 1999's 7th Deadly Sin is a mixed bag. Lyrically, the Iceberg hasn't changed much. He's still hard -- much harder than you'd expect a VH-1 regular to be -- and he's still uncompromising with the language and his attitude towards women (ladies, unless you want to learn how to go from "ho" to "pro," avoid this album). The word-filled and moving "Dear God Can You Hear Me" displays some growth and on "New Life" he sounds suitably reborn. "My Baby" is a worthy sequel to the nasty "Girls L.G.B.N.A.F." from his 1988 album Power and the fascinating beat laid on "Pray" is as icy cold as the lyrics. Problem is, "Pray" is the only time the production is excellent and the B-list beatmakers rounded up for Ice-T's comeback seem much less enthused than they should be. T's protégés and guest stars aren't that gripping either and you'd think the Bush Jr. years would set the man on fire. Instead, he macks on about money, ho's, and the game for 16 tracks, and with no sweet beat to latch onto, the results are numbing. If you've been pining for the stripped-down, ball to you fall attitude of his debut, go for it. Otherwise, this is a hardcore fan's album, and a spotty one at that. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
With artwork straight out of David Fincher's seminal 1995 serial killer flick Seven, Ice-T's seventh album 7th Deadly Sin looks curiously out of place in 1999, and it has a sound to match. Ice-T doesn't really return to his classic sound of the late '80s/early '90s when he was a key player in the golden age of hip-hop, but he doesn't seem entirely concerned with staying current, either. The end result is a record that occasionally recalls OG or Iceberg while still having elements of everything from RZA's ominous, skeletal productions to the stripped-back Cali-rap of the late '90s. As a result, it straddles two extremes, which can actually be intriguing at times, especially since it is the sonic equivalent of Ice-T's place in hip-hop in 1999 -- a veteran that isn't washed up, but isn't quite in step with the times. Unfortunately, his lyrics don't really match the feel of the album, since he's decided to pretty much run through his traditional list of gangsta topics, even adding the now-cliched slow-jam tribute to Tupac and Biggie with "Valuable Game," a song based around En Vogue's "Don't Let Go" and easily the most embarrassing thing on the album. When he breaks from gangsta tradition or offers a twist on it, as he does on the title track or "Don't Hate the Playa," the songs have the opportunity to really take off, but they just highlight how most of the songs have lyrics that are simply too generic. But if 7th Deadly Sin is taken on a purely musical level, it can be intriguing. Not always successful, but it at least offers a welcome change-up after a couple of undistinguished releases. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Below Utopia: The Lost Score'
Release Date 5/19/1998
Tracks 1
Label Virgin
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What The Critics Say
Below Utopia was a low-budget thriller starring Ice-T and Alyssa Milano. Ice-T wrote a hip-hop score for the film, but director Kurt Voss rejected the music, settling for a conventional score. Ice-T decided to release the music as Below Utopia: The Lost Score in 1998. Although the record isn't among Ice-T's best, it's nevertheless quite interesting for hardcore fans, since it demonstrates that Ice-T is capable of creating evocative, cinematic music without words. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'VI: Return of the Real'
Release Date 1/1/1996
Tracks 21
Label Priority
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'Home Invasion'
Release Date 1/1/1993
Tracks 19
Label Rhyme Syndicate
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What The Critics Say
Given the fact that most of Home Invasion was recorded during and after the "Cop Killer" media firestorm, it comes as no surprise that the album is an uneven, muddled affair, not the clean, focused attack of O.G. Original Gangster. Instead of producing an album that illustrates his confusion through the music (like Public Enemy's claustrophobic "Welcome to the Terrordome"), Ice-T made a confused album, unsure in its musical and lyrical direction. Home Invasion does have some flashes of brilliance (about a third of the album, particularly the tribute to the gang truce, "Gotta Lotta Love"), but it takes a little digging to find the best material. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
One of gangsta rap's defining albums, O.G. Original Gangster is a sprawling masterpiece that stands far and away as Ice-T's finest hour. Taken track by track, O.G. might not seem at first like the product of a unified vision; perspective-wise, it's all over the map. There's perceptive social analysis, chilling violence, psychological storytelling, hair-trigger rage, pleas for solutions to ghetto misery, cautionary morality tales, and cheerfully crude humor in the depictions of sex and defenses of street language. But with a few listens, it's possible to assimilate everything into a complex, detailed portrait of Ice-T's South Central L.A. roots -- the album's contradictions reflect the complexities of real life. That's why the more intelligent, nuanced material isn't negated by the violence and sexism -- both of which, incidentally, are held relatively in check, with the former having been reshaped into a terrifying but inescapable fact of life. That isn't to say that O.G. Original Gangster is designed to appeal to delicate intellectual sensibilities; it's still full of raw, street-level aggression that makes no apologies or concessions. That goes for the music as well as the lyrics. The beats are a little too hard-driving and jittery to really breathe like funk, which only adds to the dark, claustrophobic feel of the production. Ice smoothly keeps up with the music's furious pace and also debuts his soon-to-be-notorious metal band Body Count on one track. That kind of artistic ambition is all over the album, whether in the lean musical attack or the urgent rhymes. O.G. Original Gangster is a certifiable gangsta rap classic, and arguably the most realistic, unvarnished representation of a world Ice-T was the first to chronicle on record. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
'The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say'
Release Date 10/3/1989
Tracks 13
Label Sire
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What The Critics Say
Ice-T threw listeners quite a curve ball with his riveting third album, The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say -- arguably the closest hip-hop has come to George Orwell's 1984. Instead of focusing heavily on gangsta rap, Ice-T made First Amendment issues the CD's dominant theme. Setting the album's tone is the opener, "Shut Up, Be Happy," which finds guest Jello Biafra (former leader of punk band Dead Kennedys) envisioning an Orwellian America in which the government controls and dominates every aspect of its citizens' lives. Though there are a few examples of first-rate gangsta rap here -- including "The Hunted Child" and the chilling "Peel Their Caps Back" -- Ice's main concern this time is censorship and what he views as a widespread attack on free speech in the U.S. As angry and lyrically intense as most of The Iceberg is, Ice enjoys fun for its own sake on "My Word Is Bond" and "The Girl Tried to Kill Me" -- an insanely funny rap-rock account of an encounter with a dominatrix. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
As riveting as Rhyme Pays was, Ice-T did hold back a little and avoided being too consistently sociopolitical. But with the outstanding Power, the gloves came all the way off, and Ice didn't hesitate to speak his mind about the harsh realities of inner-city life. On "Drama," "Soul on Ice" (an homage to his idol Iceberg Slim), "High Rollers," and other gangsta rap gems, Ice embraces a first-person format and raps with brutal honesty about the lives of gang members, players, and hustlers. Ice's detractors took the songs out of context, arguing that he was glorifying crime. But he countered that, in fact, he was sending out an anti-crime message in a subliminal fashion and stressed that the criminals he portrayed ended up dead or behind bars. Another track that some misconstrued was "I'm Your Pusher," an interpretation of Curtis Mayfield's "Pusherman" that doesn't promote the use of drugs, but uses double entendres to make an anti-drug statement. (Ice has always been vehemently outspoken in his opposition to drugs.) In the next few years, gangsta rap would degenerate into nothing more than cheap exploitation and empty clichés, but in Ice's hands, it was as informative as it was captivating. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Before Ice-T's ascension, L.A. rappers were known primarily for a synthesizer-dominated sound indebted to Kraftwerk's innovations as well as Afrika Bambaataa's 1982 hit, "Planet Rock." While L.A. did have its share of hardcore rappers in the mid-'80s (including Toddy Tee, King Tee, and of course, Ice-T), hardcore rap was dominated by the East Coast. That begin to change in 1987, when Ice-T's debut album, Rhyme Pays, was released and sold several hundred thousand copies. Hard-hitting offerings like "409," "Make It Funky," and the title song (which samples Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" and underscores the L.A. resident's love of heavy metal) left no doubt that Ice had very little in common with the Egyptian Lover, the World Class Wreckin' Cru, or the L.A. Dream Team. The album doesn't contain as much gangsta rap as some of his subsequent releases, but it did have enough to stir some controversy. On "Squeeze the Trigger," "Pain," and a new version of "6 'N the Mornin'" (which had been the B-side of Ice's 1986 single "Doggin' the Wax" on Techno-Hop), Ice portrays ruthless felons and raps candidly about the horrors of the urban ghetto he'd been only too familiar with. With the release of Rhyme Pays, the West Coast was well on its way to becoming a crucial part of hip-hop. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
