Ice T

About

Ice T is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, actor, record producer, and author.

He began his career as an underground rapper in the 1980s. Sire Records signed him in 1987. Then he released his debut album Rhyme Pays. 

Since 2000, he has portrayed NYPD Detective/Sergeant Odafin Tutuola on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

On December 27, 2013, he announced that he was entering podcasting in a deal with the Paragon Collective. Ice-T co-hosts the Ice-T: Final Level podcast with his friend, Mick Benzo. They discuss relevant issues, movies, video games, and do a behind the scenes of Law & Order: SVU segment with featured guests from the entertainment world.

In 2018, he began hosting the true crime documentary, In Ice Cold Blood, on the Oxygen cable channel.

Ice-T cites writer Iceberg Slim and rapper Schoolly D as influences, with Iceberg Slim’s novels guiding his skills as a lyricist. His favorite heavy rock acts are Edgar Winter, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. A love of rock led Ice to use guitar in his albums, to provide his songs with edge and power, and to make his raps harder. He drew on the fusion of rock and hip hop by Rick Rubin-produced acts such as Beastie Boys, Run-DMC and LL Cool J, who featured rock samples in their songs.

Ice-T has stated on numerous occasions that he is a teetotaler, and lives a straight edge lifestyle.

He is a long time practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and boxing. He is also a big fan of the UFC.