The legendary Ice-T was kind enough to stop by our studio and chat about Body Count's new album, Bloodlust, conveying the black experience through metal and much more!

When Body Count marked their return with 2014’s Manslaughter, Ice-T knew his metal band still held a place in the scene. After experimenting with ultra-violent, hilarious and hyper-sexual tracks, Body Count used their momentum to become extremely focused, almost to the point of a concept album, with Bloodlust tackling social and political issues with vicious candor.

Bloodlust was made during these last three years of wildness that has happened on earth,” Ice explains. “The primaries, the elections… all the madness that has happened in the United States. It was impossible to make a happy record. I’ve lived through Bush, I’ve lived through Clinton, I’ve lived through Obama, even Reagan. I’ve never felt this tense.”

With fans of metal being disproportionately non-black compared to other styles of music, Ice-T and Body Count are in a unique position. Perhaps no active metal band has a greater opportunity to explain the “black experience” to a white audience that’s listening so intently and with such excitement. “My boy calls it ‘unf—kwithable,’” Ice explains. “The angles I’m hitting these topics, you can’t really argue them.”

“Racism is real,” he continues. “But there’s also a class situation that’s going on out here where, like I say, if a cop is in a gated community, he ain’t got his hand on his gun because he knows there’s repercussions. When he’s in a poor neighborhood, whether it’s in the trailer park or my neighborhood where I grew up, they’re quicker because there’s no repercussions.”

Check out our exclusive interview with Ice-T in the clip above and be sure to pick up a copy of Body Count’s Bloodlust album!

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