Two hours after conquering the Black stage with metal outfit Body Count, Ice-T was at it again across the park, spitting the coldest gangster raps ever recorded and dishing out no-bullshit stage banter. “The fact that you over here at my stage means you here to see some gangster rap,” he ruled, “none of that pussy shit.”
Playing to a surprisingly thin crowd – those not swayed by either the Descendents or M.I.A. – the 55-year-old “Cop Killer” turned cop actor delivered a masterful set that leaned on genre blueprints “New Jack Hustler,” “Colors,” and “O.G. Original Gangster.” On the latter, Ice-T invited a young fan onstage to serve as hype man.
“This is either gonna be the best moment of your life or some fucked up shit,” he told him.
“How old are you?” he asked another teenaged fan before launching into “You Played Yourself” and “High Rollers” – both late-Eighties highlights. “When we were rocking this, you were basically inside your daddy’s ball sack.”
After ceding the mic to Bushwick Bill for an a capella verse, Ice-T schooled the uninitiated on hustling, pimping, and gang-banging on the autobiographical “That’s How I’m Livin’.”
“If this is too hard for you, go buy Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball,’” he chuckled. “They make music for everyone.”
Before bringing wife Coco onstage to close the show, the L.A. legend shared one more gangster truism: “I don’t know if I’ll ever come back to Austin again. I don’t know if I’ll ever perform again. But I know one thing: You saw Ice-T tonight.”
For more Fun Fun Fun Fest coverage, see www.austinchronicle.com/fun-fun-fun-fest. For photo galleries from the fest, see austinchronicle.com/photos.
This article appears in November 8 • 2013.
