Ben Apatoff has written the first book about Ice-T’s heavy metal band Body Count. The book is part of the Bloomsbury 33 1/3 series that has published several titles chronicling noteworthy albums from pop artists across genres. Ice-T introduced his all-Black hardcore band in 1991 on his O.G. Original Gangster album and they performed at the first ever Lollapalooza that summer. Their debut album included the incendiary “Cop Killer” which was criticized by President George H.W. Bush and Vice-President Dan Quayle. Police organizations called for the boycott of Time Warner and Ice-T had the song removed from the album because he felt that the outrage had overshadowed the music. 

Apatoff tells the story of a bunch of high school friends who got together and reclaimed rock and roll to tell stories from a Black perspective that was rarely if ever presented in mainstream media. The author conducted interviews with Ice-T, Ernie C, Sean E. Sean, Vincent Price, Ill Will, Juan of the Dead, Jello Biafra, Bobby Brooks, Max Cavalera, Dan Charnas, Doc Coyle, Heidi Siegmund Cuda, Chuck D, Laina Dawes, Ron DeLord, Corey Glover, Dave Halili, David Harleston, Gibby Haynes, Gary Holt, Howie Klein, Chris “Hot Rod” Long, Matt Mahurin, Bernard Matthews, Duff McKagan, Bob Merlis, Angelo Moore, Darlene Ortiz, Phyllis Pollack, Will Putney, Vernon Reid, Henry Rollins, Troy Staton, Steve Stewart, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ulrich Wild, Juan Williams, Mark Zonder and more.  Body Count will be released on September 7, 2023. 

 

The 63rd Grammy Awards took place at the Los Angeles Convention center with Trevor Noah as the host. There were performances from Bruno Mars with anderson.paak, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B. Beyonce made history and became the woman with the most Grammys after taking her home her 28th one.  She joined Megan The Stallion onstage for their joint win for Best Rap Song for “Savage” which Jay-Z also won his 23rd Grammy for because he helped write the song. Their daughter Blue Ivy became the second-youngest winner ever at 9-years old for Best Music Video for “Brown Skin Girl.” Megan Thee Stallion became the first woman to win Best Rap Song. Ice-T’s Body Count took the award for Best Metal Performance. Nas won his first Grammy after 14 nominations over his almost 30-year career. Fantastic Negrito picked up his third Grammy for Contemporary Blues Album. Fans questioned why Taylor Swift became the first woman to win album of the year three times and why Billie Eilish won Record Of The Year two years in a row. See all the winners below: 

 

Song Of The Year:

“I Can’t Breathe” – WINNER
Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)

Best New Artist:

Megan Thee Stallion

Best Dance Recording:

“10%” 
Kaytranada Featuring Kali Uchis
Kaytranada, producer; Neal H. Pogue, mixer

Best Dance/Electronic Album:

BUBBA – Kaytranada

Best Metal Performance: 

Bum-Rush – Body Count

Best Rock Song:

“Stay High” – Brittany Howard, songwriter (Brittany Howard)

Best R&B Performance:

“Black Parade”-Beyoncé

Best Traditional R&B Performance: 

“Anything For You” – Ledisi

Best R&B Song:

“Better Than I Imagined” – Robert Glasper, Meshell Ndegeocello & Gabriella Wilson, songwriters (Robert Glasper Featuring H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello)

Best Progressive R&B Album:

It Is What It Is -Thundercat

Best R&B Album:

Bigger Love -John Legend

Best Rap Performance:

“Savage”-Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé

Best Melodic Rap Performance:

“Lockdown”-Anderson.Paak

Best Rap Song: 

“Savage” -Beyoncé, Shawn Carter, Brittany Hazzard, Derrick Milano, Terius Nash, Megan Pete, Bobby Session Jr., Jordan Kyle Lanier Thorpe & Anthony White, songwriters (Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé)

Best Rap Album: 

King’s Disease -Nas

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album:

Jesus Is King-Kanye West

Best Gospel Album:

Gospel According To PJ -PJ Morton

Best Contemporary Blues Album:

Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? -Fantastic Negrito

Best Traditional Blues Album:

Rawer Than Raw – Bobby Rush

Best Reggae Album:

Got To Be Tough-Toots & The Maytals

Best Global Music Album:

Twice As Tall – Burna Boy

Best Music Video:

“Brown Skin Girl”-Beyoncé, Blue Ivy & WizKid
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Jenn Nkiru, video directors; Astrid Edwards, Aya Kaida, Jean Mougin, Nathan Scherrer & Erinn Williams, video producers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ice-T’s Body Count band released a new album, Carnivore in March. But thanks to the pandemic they can’t tour like everyone else. Ice-T explains at the beginning of the video that he had everyone film themselves individually and all the clips were edited together. “Point The Finger” featuring Riley Gale of Power Trip is about cops who kill innocent people and get away with it. 

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[youtube id=”a_0xYamFYYI”] Body Count attacks police brutality with their “Black Hoodie” single. Ice-T and the band are filmed in a parking garage playing the song as the narrative of the unarmed Black man shot and killed by the police is enacted onscreen. The black hoodie is a reference to the one worn by Trayvon Martin and the general idea that all hoodie-wearers are criminals. Body Count’s Bloodlust comes out Friday.