Ice-T is a Grammy-winning American rapper, actor, and producer widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of West Coast hip-hop. Born Tracy Lauren Marrow in Newark, New Jersey, in 1958, he moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and took his stage name in tribute to pulp novelist Iceberg Slim. He cut his earliest records in the early 1980s and helped pioneer the gangsta rap subgenre that would shape a generation.

His major-label debut Rhyme Pays (1987) earned RIAA gold certification and stamped him as one of West Coast rap's most provocative voices. The follow-ups Power (1988), The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say! (1989), and O.G. Original Gangster (1991) produced classic singles including "Colors," "I'm Your Pusher," and "New Jack Hustler."