Body Count (band)
Body Count is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1990. The group is fronted by Ice-T, who first established himself as a rapper but co-founded the group with lead guitarist Ernie C out of their interest in heavy metal music. Ice-T took on the role of vocalist and writing the lyrics for most of Body Count's songs, while Ernie C has been responsible for writing the group's music.
Body Count
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- 1990–2006
- 2009–present
- Century Media
- Sumerian
- Escapi
- Virgin
- Sire
- Warner Bros.
- Ice-T
- Ernie C
- Sean E Sean
- Vincent Price
- Will "Ill Will" Dorsey Jr.
- Juan of the Dead
- Little Ice
- Beatmaster V
- Mooseman
- Sean E. Mac
- D-Roc the Executioner
- Jonathon James
- Griz
- O. T.
- Bendrix
Body Count's self-titled debut album was released on Sire Records in 1992, and garnered much attention due to a controversy around the song "Cop Killer". Their label, Sire Records, and their parent company, Warner Bros. Records, defended the song; however Ice-T chose to remove it from the album because he felt that the controversy had eclipsed the music itself. The group left Sire the following year, and they have since released six more albums.
Three out of the band's original seven members are deceased: D-Roc died from lymphoma, Beatmaster V from leukemia, and Mooseman in a drive-by shooting. Body Count's current lineup includes vocalist Ice-T, guitarists Ernie C and Juan Garcia, bassist Vincent Price, drummer Will "Ill Will" Dorsey Jr., and backing vocalists Sean E Sean and Little Ice (Ice-T's son).
The band received their second Grammy nomination and later won the award at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021 for Best Metal Performance with their song "Bum Rush" from the album Carnivore.[5]
History[edit]
Pre-formation (1990–1991)[edit]
Ice-T's interest in heavy metal stemmed from sharing a room with his cousin Earl, who was a fan of rock music and only listened to the local rock stations. Ice-T particularly enjoyed heavy metal, citing Edgar Winter, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath as his favorite bands.[6] Ice-T attended Crenshaw High School, where a few classmates shared his interest in the genre, including musicians Ernie C, D-Roc the Executioner, Beatmaster V, and Mooseman. Ice-T began a solo career as a rapper, and later decided to form Body Count with these friends.[6][7]
The earliest formation of Body Count was in 1989 when Ice-T had Ernie C, Mooseman, and Beatmaster V participated in live instrumentation on Ice-T's album The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say!. They did live instrumentation on the tracks The Girl Tried To Kill Me, Hit The Deck, and What Ya Wanna Do?[8]
Ice-T co-wrote the band's music and lyrics with lead guitarist Ernie C, and took on the duties of lead vocalist, even though he felt that he did not have a great singing voice.[9] The original line-up consisted of D-Roc on rhythm guitar, Beatmaster V on drums and Mooseman on bass.
Touring and debut album (1991–1992)[edit]
Ice-T introduced the band at Lollapalooza in 1991, devoting half of his set to his hip hop songs, and half to Body Count songs, increasing his appeal with both alternative music fans and middle-class teenagers.[10] Some considered the Body Count performances to be the highlight of the tour.[11] The group made its first album appearance on Ice-T's 1991 solo album O.G. Original Gangster. The song, "Body Count", was preceded by a spoken introduction in which Ice-T responds to allegations that he had "sold out" by incorporating rock elements into his rap albums by pointing out that rock music originated with African-American artists such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Little Richard, in addition to stating that "as far as I'm concerned, music is music. I don't look at it as rock, R&B, or all that kind of stuff. I just look at it as music. [...] I do what I like and I happen to like rock 'n' roll, and I feel sorry for anybody who only listens to one form of music".[12]
Body Count's self-titled debut album was released on Sire/Warner Bros. Records on March 31, 1992. On the strength of the album, Body Count toured internationally, developing a strong following.[6] When the group performed in Milan, Italy, some of the punks in the crowd began spitting at Ernie C.[6] Ice-T attempted to calm the situation by telling the crowd not to spit, but the spitting continued.[6] As the band prepared to play "Cop Killer", Ice-T identified an audience member who spit in his direction; Ice-T responded by rushing into the crowd and punching the spitter.[6] As the band began to play, some of the audience began fighting with Ice-T. Body Count escaped the crowd mid-song, and the promoter immediately shut the concert down.[6]
Outside the venue, angry audience members trashed the band's tour bus. The band hailed a taxicab, but its driver abandoned the cab when the mob surrounded the taxi and shot at it, leading the promoter, representing Body Count, to steal the taxi in order to escape, abandoning it and their tour coats a mile away from the venue.[6] The promoters representant was Rolf Stahlhofen, who later became the singer of the German multiplatinum selling band Söhne Mannheims. They hailed another cab, and the driver attempted to take them back to the venue until the band screamed at the driver to take them to the hotel.[6] The incident was the subject of much controversy and coverage on Italian television. The band appeared on a Milan radio station, where the disc jockey told his audience, "Some clowns tried to ruin his concert. We should be angry at them. Ice-T is a guest in our country, we invited him to do all these sold-out shows, and we love him!"[6] Several Italian fans apologized for the behavior of the Milan audience.[6]
Style[edit]
Lyrics[edit]
Ice-T's lyrics focus on reality-based themes, including gang life, because he felt it would be scarier than the fantasy-based horror themes of most heavy metal bands.[6] The band's third album, Violent Demise: The Last Days, featured album cover art depicting the hand signs of these gangs.[6] According to Ice-T, "We named the group Body Count because every Sunday night in L.A., I'd watch the news, and the newscasters would tally up the youths killed in gang homicides that week and then just segue to sports. 'Is that all I am,' I thought, 'a body count?'"[9]
When the band's debut album was released, Ice-T defined it as being "a rock album with a rap mentality".[37] Like Ice-T's hip hop albums, the group's material focused on various social and political issues, with songs focusing on topics ranging from police brutality to drug abuse. Ernie C has stated that "We were just a band that played the songs that we knew how to write. Everybody writes about whatever they learned growing up, and we were no exception. Like the Beach Boys sing about the beach, we sing about the way we grew up."[38]
While a good portion of Body Count's lyrics are current issues, Ice-T notes that he also considers Body Count "grindhouse", and that some of the songs are humorous exaggerations of violence;[39] he also expects fans to be able to tell the difference.[40]
Music[edit]
Body Count's musical style derives from the dark, ominous tones of traditional heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath and thrash metal bands such as Slayer,[6] as well as hardcore punk's aggressiveness. According to Ernie C, "We wanted to be a big punk band [...] Our first record is almost a punk record."[38] The presence of a rapper in a heavy metal band has been credited for paving the way for the rise of rap metal and nu metal,[41][42][43][44] even though Ice-T does not rap in most Body Count songs and considers it to solely be a rock band.[6] According to Ernie C, "A lot of rappers want to be in a rock band, but it has to be done sincerely. You can't just get anybody on guitar and expect it to work. [...] Ice and I, on the other hand, really loved the music we were doing, and it showed."[38]
Ice-T
Ernie C
Vincent Price
Ill Will
Juan of the Dead
