So here we are with Ice-T deciding he’s gonna be a metalhead. Yeah, the guy who gave us “Colors” and all that rap shit suddenly thought it’d be cool to pick up some guitars and scream about cops. Body Count formed back in 1990, basically a bunch of LA dudes who went to high school together and figured mixing gangsta rap with some heavy riffs might work. Ice-T fronting the whole thing with Ernie C handling the guitar duties, which honestly, was pretty wild for the time.
The thing is, this debut album from ’92 actually delivers the goods. Sure, it sounds a bit rough around the edges but that’s kinda the point, these guys weren’t trying to be the next Metallica, they were pissed off and wanted everyone to know it. The album jumps around from straight-up metal to hardcore punk vibes, with Ice-T doing his thing over some seriously chunky riffs. “Body Count’s in the House” gets things rolling with that classic crossover energy, while tracks like “There Goes the Neighborhood” show they could actually write some decent metal songs when they wanted to. And then there’s “Cop Killer”, the track that basically got them kicked off their label and caused all sorts of drama. Whether you agree with the message or not, it’s a fucking intense song that still hits hard today.
Look, this ain’t gonna be your typical polished metal album, but that’s exactly why it works. Body Count took two genres that shouldn’t have mixed and made it sound natural, way before anyone else was doing this rap-metal thing properly. If you’re into that raw, in-your-face sound and don’t mind some seriously controversial lyrics, this is definitely worth checking out. Plus, it’s pretty cool hearing Ice-T go completely mental over some legitimately heavy music.