Body Count is the eponymous debut album of American heavy metal band
Body Count. Released in 1992, the album material
focuses on various social and political issues, with songs focusing on topics ranging from police brutality to drug abuse. The
album presents a turning point in the career of Ice T, who cowrote the album's songs with lead
guitarist Ernie C and acted as the band's lead singer. Previously known only as a rapper, the
album helped establish a crossover audience with rock music fans, paving the way for the mainstream success of the
rapcore genre,[2][4][5] although the
album itself does not feature rapping in any of its songs.[6]
Body Count produced one single, "There Goes The Neighborhood."[3] The album is best known for the inclusion of the controversial
song "Cop Killer," which was the subject of much criticism from various political
figures, although many defended the song on the basis of the group's right to freedom of
speech. Ice T eventually chose to remove the song from the album,[7] although it continues to be performed live. Although the album received mixed reviews, it
was ranked among the Village Voice's list of the 40 Best Albums of
1992.[8]
History
Body Count, as pictured in the album's liner notes.
While Ice T is primarily known for his work in the hip
hop genre, he had long been a fan of various genres of rock music and had
sampled songs by Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, among other artists.[9] The performer formed Body Count out of this interest.[7] The band was comprised of musicians Ice T had known from Crenshaw High School.[10] Ice T states that "I knew we didn't want to form an R
& B group. [...] Where am I gonna get the rage and the anger to attack something with that? [...] We knew Body Count
had to be a rock band. The name alone negates the band from being R & B."[7]
Ice T cowrote the band's music and lyrics with lead guitarist Ernie C, and took on the duties
of lead vocalist. Ice T states that "I knew I couldn't sing, but then I thought, 'Who can sing in rock 'n' roll?'"[7] Aside from Ice T and Ernie C, the original line-up consisted of Mooseman on bass guitar, Beatmaster
V on drums and D-Roc on rhythm guitar. 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?'"[7]
Ice T introduced the band at Lollapalooza in 1991, devoting half of his set to his
gangsta rap songs, and half to Body Count songs, increasing his appeal with both alternative
music fans and middle-class teenagers.[11] Many considered
the Body Count performances to be the highlight of the tour.[12] 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 staged interview in which
the performer refered to the group as a "black hardcore band," 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."[13]
The group's self-titled debut was released the following year, on compact disc,
vinyl, and audio cassette.[3] Ice T states that
Body Count was intentionally different from his solo hip hop albums in that "An Ice T album has intelligence, and at times
it has ignorance. Sometimes it has anger, sometimes it has questions. But Body Count was intende to reflect straight
anger. It was supposed to be the voice of the angry brother, without answers. [...] If you took a kid and you put him in jail
with a microphone and asked him how he feels, you'd get Body Count: 'Fuck that. Fuck school. Fuck the police.' You
wouldn't get intelligence or compassion. You'd get raw anger."[7] From the album, "There Goes The Neighborhood" was released as a single,[3] while "Body Count's in
the House" was featured in the film Universal Soldier.[14]
Musical style
When Body Count was released, Ice T defined it as being "a rock album with a rap mentality."[15] Body Count's musical style is primarily
rooted in the heavy metal and hardcore punk genres. According to Ernie C, "Body Count
wasn't supposed to be a big deal at all. We originally just set out to sell 50,000 records like The Ramones or the Dead Kennedys. We wanted to be a big punk band, because
our first record is almost a punk record."[2] Body Count has also been associated with genres such as speed
metal,[3][16][17]
thrash metal[18][15][19]
and rapcore.[20]
Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote
that with Body Count, Ice T "has recognized a kinship between his gangster raps and post-punk, hard-core rock, both of
which break taboos to titillate fans. But where rap's core audience is presumably in the inner city, hard-core appeals mostly to
suburbanites seeking more gritty thrills than they can get from Nintendo or the local mall."[21]
Depite Ice T's attempts to differentiate Body Count from his work in the hip hop genre, the press focused on the
group's rap image.[19] Ice T felt that
politicians had intentionally referred "Cop Killer" as a rap song in order to provoke
negative criticism. "There is absolutely no way to listen to the song Cop Killer and call it a rap record. It's so far from rap.
But, politically, they know by saying the word rap they can get a lot of people who think, 'Rap-black-rap-black-ghetto,'
and don't like it. You say the word rock, people say, 'Oh, but I like Jefferson
Airplane, I like Fleetwood Mac — that's rock.' They don't want to use the word rock
& roll to describe this song."[22] Body Count
has since been credited for pioneering the rap-metal genre popularized by groups such as Rage Against the Machine, Korn and Limp Bizkit,[2][4][5] although Ice T
does not rap on any of the album's tracks.[6]
Ernie C stated that "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. [...] [We] really loved the music we were doing, and it showed."[2]
Lyrical themes
The final image of the "There Goes the Neighborhood" music video.
Like Ice T's gangsta rap albums, Body Count's material focused on various social and political issues, with songs
focusing on topics ranging from police brutality to drug abuse. According to Ernie C, "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."[2]
Ice T states that "Body Count was an angry record. It was meant to be a protest record. I put my anger in it, while lacing
it with dark humor."[7] The spoken
introduction, "Smoked Pork" features Ice T taking on the roles of a seemingly stranded motorist and a police officer who refuses to aide him, telling him that "my job is eatin' these doughnuts." When the
officer recognizes the motorist, gunshots are heard. The final voice heard on the track is that of the motorist, confirming his
identity.[23]
In the lyrics of "KKK Bitch," Ice T describes a sexual encounter with a woman whom he soon learns is the daughter of the
Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The lyrics continue
to describe a scenario in which members of Body Count "crash" a Klan meeting to "get buck wild with the white freaks." Ice T
makes humorous reference to "[falling] in love with Tipper Gore's two twelve year old
nieces", and ponders the possibility of the Grand Wizard coming after him "when his grandson's named little Ice-T."[24] In The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck?, Ice T wrote that
"'KKK Bitch' was ironic because the sentiments were true. We'd play Ku Klux Klan areas in the South and the girls would always come backstage and tell us how their brothers and fathers didn't
like black folks. [...] We knew that 'KKK Bitch' would totally piss off the Ku Klux Klan. There's humor in the song, but it fucks
with them. It's on a punk tip."[7]
"Voodoo" describes a fictional encounter between Ice T and an old woman with a voodoo
doll.[25] "The Winner Loses," describes the downfall
of a crack cocaine user.[26] "There Goes The Neighborhood" is a sarcastic response to critics of Body Count, sung from the point
of view of a racist white rocker who wonders "Don't they know rock's just for whites? / Don't they know the rules? / Those
niggers are too hardcore / This shit ain't cool."[27] For
the song's music video, the word "nigger" was replaced with the phrase "black boys".[7] The music video ends with a black musician
implanting an electric guitar into the ground and setting it on fire. The final image is
similar to that of a burning cross.[28]
"Evil Dick" focuses on male promiscuity. Its lyrics describe a married man who is led to seek after strange women after his
"evil dick" tells him "Don't sleep alone, don't sleep alone."[29] "Momma's Gotta Die Tonight" follows the account of a black teenager who murders
and dismembers his racist mother after she reacts negatively when he brings a
white girl home.[30] In The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck?, Ice T wrote that the song's lyrics are metaphorical,
explaining that "Whoever is still perpetuating racism has got to die, not necessarily physically, but they have to kill off that
part of their brain. From now on, consider it dead. The entire attitude is dead."[7]
Ice T referred to the album's final track, "Cop Killer" as a protest song, stating that the song is "[sung] in the first
person as a character who is fed up with police brutality."[31] The song was written in 1990, and had been performed live several times, including at
Lollapalooza, before it had been recorded in a studio.[2] The album version mentions then-Los
Angeles police chief Daryl Gates, and Rodney
King, a black motorist whose beating by LAPD officers had been
caught on videotape.[32] In The Ice Opinion: Who Gives
a Fuck?, Ice T wrote that the song "[is] a warning, not a threat—to authority that says, 'Yo, police: We're human beings.
Treat us accordingly.'"[7] In an
interview for Rolling Stone, Ice T stated that "We just celebrated the
fourth of July, which is really just national Fuck the Police Day [...]
I bet that during the Revolutionary War, there were songs similar to
mine."[33]
Reception
The album debuted at #32 on Billboard's Top 50 albums.[7] By January
29, 1993, the album sold 480,000 copies, according to Variety.[34]
J. D. Considine wrote in Rolling Stone
that the album "offers the sort of sonic intensity parental groups fear even more than four-letter words,"[35] while All Music Guide's
Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album "a surprisingly tepid affair."[1] Entertainment
Weekly and The Village Voice both gave the album A- reviews,[36][37] with Entertainment Weekly stating that the album was "moronic, sexist, profane, gratuitously
violent, loud and morally reprehensible—yep, a heavy metal album. But this time it's a good one."[37] The Village Voice ranked the album at #31 in their list of the 40
Best Albums Of 1992.[8]
Controversy
- See also: Cop Killer (song)
Body Count performing "Cop Killer" in New York City, 1991.
The album encountered controversy after its original release. "Cop Killer," which was intended to criticize violent police
officers, was interpreted by many as an attack against the entire police force.[7][38] In an article for the Washington Post, Tipper
Gore condemned Ice T for songs like "Cop Killer," writing that "Cultural economics were a poor excuse for the South's
continuation of slavery. Ice-T's financial success cannot excuse the
vileness of his message [...] Hitler's anti-Semitism
sold in Nazi Germany. That didn't make it right."[39] The Dallas Police Association and the Combined Law Enforcement Association of
Texas launched a campaign to force Warner Bros. Records to withdraw the
album.[40] CLEAT called for a boycott
of all products by Time-Warmer in order to secure the removal of the song and album from stores.[17] Within a week, they were joined by police organizations across the
United States.[40] Ice T asserted that the song was written from the point of view of a fictional character,
and told reporters that "I ain't never killed no cop. I felt like it a lot of times. But I never did it. If you believe that I'm
a cop killer, you believe David Bowie is an astronaut,"
in reference to Bowie's song "Space Oddity".[31]
The National Black Police Association opposed the boycott of Time-Warner and the attacks
on "Cop Killer," identifying police brutality as the cause of much anti-police sentiment, and proposing the creation of
independent civilian review boards "to scrutinize the actions of our law enforcement officers" as a way of ending the
provocations that caused artists such as Body Count "to respond to actions of police brutality and abuse through their music.
[...] Many individuals of the law enforcement profession do not want anyone to scrutinize their actions, but want to scrutinize
the actions of others."[17] Some critics argued
that the song could cause crime and violence.[40][41] Others
defended the album on the basis of the group's right to freedom of speech, and cited
the fact that Ice T had portrayed a police officer in the film New Jack
City.[42] Ice T is quoted as saying
that "I didn't need people to come in and really back me on the First Amendment. I needed people to come in and say 'Ice-T has
grounds to make this record.' I have the right to make it because the cops are killing my people. So fuck the First Amendment,
let's deal with the fact that I have the right to make it."[43]
Over the next month, controversy against the band grew. Vice President Dan Quayle branded
"Cop Killer" as being "obscene," and President George H.W. Bush publicly denounced any
record company that would release such a product.[40] At a Time-Warner shareholders' meeting, actor Charlton
Heston stood and read lyrics from the song "KKK Bitch" to an astonished audience and demanded that the company take
action.[40] Body Count was
removed from the shelves of a retail store in Greensboro, North Carolina
after local police had told the management that they would no longer respond to any emergency calls at the store if they
continued to sell the album.[17] In July 1992,
the New Zealand Police Commissioner unsuccessfuly attempted to prevent an Ice T concert in
Auckland, arguing that "Anyone who comes to this country preaching in obscene terms the killing
of police, should not be welcome here,"[42]
before taking Body Count and Warner Bros. Records to the Indecent Publications Tribunal, in an effort to get it banned under New
Zealand's Indecent Publications Act. This was the first time in twenty years that a sound recording had come before the
censorship body, and the first ever case involving popular music.[42] After reviewing the various submissions, and listening carefully to the album, the Tribunal
found the song "Cop Killer" to be "not exhortatory," saw the album as displaying "an honest purpose," and found Body Count not
indecent.[42]
When the album was reissued, the artwork was altered to remove reference to the controversial song.
The controversy escalated to the point where death threats were sent to Time-Warner executives, and stockholders threatened to pull out of the company. Finally, Ice T decided to remove "Cop Killer" from the
album of his own volition,[7][38][43] a decision which was met by criticism from other artists who derided Ice T for "caving in to
external pressure."[44] In an interview, Ice T stated
that "I didn't want my band to get pigeon-holed as that's the only reason that record sold. It just got outta hand and I was just
tired of hearing it. I said, 'fuck it,' I mean they're saying we did it for money, and we didn't. I'd gave the record away, ya
know, let's move on, let's get back to real issues, not a record but the cops that are out there killing people."[43]
"Cop Killer" was replaced by a new version of "Freedom of Speech," a song from Ice T's 1989 solo album The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say. The
song was re-edited and remixed to give it a more rock-oriented sound, using a looped sample from the Jimi Hendrix song "Foxy Lady." Ice T left Warner Bros. Records the
following year because of disputes over the Ice T solo album Home Invasion,[7] taking Body Count with him. The studio
version of "Cop Killer" has not been re-released, although a live version of the song appears on Body Count's 2005 release
Live in L.A.[45] According to Ernie C, the
controversy over the song "still lingers for us, even now. I'll try to book clubs and the guy I'm talking to will mention it and
I'll think to myself 'Man, that was 17 years ago.' But I meet a lot of bands who ask me about it too and I’m real respected by
other artists for it. But it’s a love/hate thing. Ice gets it too, even though he plays a cop on TV now on Law & Order SVU."[2]
Track listing
Original version
- "Smoked Pork" — 0:46 (Ice-T)
- "Body Count's in the House" — 3:24 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "Now Sports" — 0:04 (Ice-T)
- "Body Count" — 5:17 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "A Statistic" — 0:06 (Ice-T)
- "Bowels of the Devil" — 3:43 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "The Real Problem" — 0:11 (Ice-T)
- "KKK Bitch" — 2:52 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "C Note" — 1:35 (Ernie C)
- "Voodoo" — 5:00 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "The Winner Loses" — 6:32 (Ernie C)
- "There Goes The Neighborhood" — 5:50 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "Oprah" — 0:06 (Ice-T)
- "Evil Dick" — 3:58 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "Body Count Anthem" — 2:46 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "Momma's Gotta Die Tonight" — 6:10 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "Out In The Parking Lot" — 0:30 (Ice-T)
- "Cop Killer" — 4:09 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
Re-release
- "Smoked Pork" — 0:46 (Ice-T)
- "Body Count's in the House" — 3:24 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "Now Sports" — 0:04 (Ice-T)
- "Body Count" — 5:17 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "A Statistic" — 0:06 (Ice-T)
- "Bowels of the Devil" — 3:43 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "The Real Problem" — 0:11 (Ice-T)
- "KKK Bitch" — 2:52 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "C Note" — 1:35 (Ernie C)
- "Voodoo" — 5:00 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "The Winner Loses" — 6:32 (Ernie C)
- "There Goes The Neighborhood" — 5:50 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "Oprah" — 0:06 (Ice-T)
- "Evil Dick" — 3:58 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "Body Count Anthem" — 2:46 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "Momma's Gotta Die Tonight" — 6:10 (Ice-T/Ernie C)
- "Freedom Of Speech" — 4:41 (Ice-T/Biafra/Hendrix)
Personnel
- Ice-T — Lead Vocals
- Ernie C. — Lead and Acoustic Guitars
- Mooseman — Bass
- D-Roc — Rhythm Guitars
- Beatmaster "V" — Drums
References
- ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Body Count
review. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Yoxheimer, Aaron. "Despite a high body count of its own, band is a survivor", The Morning
Call, April 6, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ a b c d e Strong, Martin Charles (2002). The Great Rock Discography, 7th edition, Canongate, pages 724—725.
ISBN 1841956155.
- ^ a b Devenish, Colin (Aug 19, 2004). Body Count Guitarist Dead. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on
2007-10-20.
- ^ a b Freydkin, Donna (October 27, 1999). No thaw for rapper Ice T. CNN. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ a b Body Count. Escapi Music Group. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o
Ice T; Sigmund, Heidi (1994). The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck?. St.
Martin's Press, pages 99—101; 108; 166—180. ISBN 0312104863.
- ^ a b "The 40 Best Albums Of 1992", The
Village Voice, March 2, 1993. Retrieved on
2007-10-20.
- ^ Ice-T Entry at
The-Breaks.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Body Count
Biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Ice-T Biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ Apter, Jeff (2004). Fornication: The Red Hot Chili Peppers Story. Omnibus Press, page 250. ISBN
1844493814.
- ^ Ice-T (1991). "Body Count". O.G. Original Gangster. Sire/Warner Bros. Records. ISBN 7599264922
- ^ Soundtracks for Universal Soldier (1992). Internet Movie
Database.
- ^ a b
- ^ Rose, Tricia (1994). Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Wesleyan
University Press, page 130. ISBN 0819562750.
- ^ a b c d Austin, Joe; Willard, Michael Nevin (1998). Generations of Youth: Youth Cultures and History in
Twentieth-century America. NYU Press, pages 401—402. ISBN 0814706460.
- ^ Brackett, Nathan (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN
0743201698.
- ^ a b Christie, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal.
HarperCollins, page 300. ISBN 0380811278.
- ^ Weinstein, Deena (2000). Heavy Metal: The Music and Its Culture. Da Capo Press. ISBN
0306809702.
- ^ Pareles, Jon. "POP
VIEW; Dissing the Rappers Is Fodder for the Sound Bite", The New York Times.
Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ Rose,
Tricia (1994). Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Wesleyan University Press, page 130. ISBN
0819562750.
- ^ "Smoked Pork" lyrics. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ "KKK Bitch" lyrics. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ "Voodoo" lyrics. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ "The Winner Loses" lyrics. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ "There Goes The
Neighborhood" lyrics. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ Body Count (1992). "There Goes The Neighborhood". Music video. Body
Count. Sire/Warner Bros. Records. ISBN
7599268782
- ^ "Evil Dick" lyrics. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ "Momma's Gotta Die
Tonight" lyrics. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ a b McKinnon, Matthew. "Hang the MC Blaming hip hop
for violence: a four-part series", CBC News, February 7, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ "Cop Killer" lyrics. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ Christgau, Robert
(August 11, 1992). Ice-T Blinks.
Village Voice. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ Augusto, Troy J., Turman, Katherine. "WB board put Ice-T out
in cold", Variety, January 29,
1993. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ Considine, J.D.. Body Count review. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on
2007-10-20.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1992).
Body
Count review. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ a b "Review of Body Count", Entertainment Weekly, May 8, 1992. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ a b Ice T Melts. Time (August
10, 1992). Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ Gore, Tipper. "Hate, rape and rap", Washington Post, January 8, 1990.
- ^ a b c d e
Osgerby, Bill (2004). Youth Media. Routledge,
pages 68—70. ISBN 0415238080.
- ^ Jones, Thomas David (1998). Human Rights: group defamation, freedom of expression, and the law of
nations. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, pages 126—129. ISBN 9041102655.
- ^ a b c d Shuker, Roy (2001). Understanding Popular Music. Routledge, page 227—229. ISBN
0415235103.
- ^ a b c Heck, Mike. A ROC EXCLUSIVE: ICE-T SPEAKS
OUT ON CENSORSHIP, COP KILLER, HIS LEAVING WARNER BROS., AND MORE. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
- ^ Oxoby, Marc (2003). The 1990s. Greenwood Press, page 171. ISBN 0313316155.
- ^ Gibron, Bill (February 16,
2006). Review of Body Count: Live in L.A.. DVD Verdict. Retrieved on 2007-10-20.
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