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Immortalized in this PDF is Ice-T's NPR Interview on the state of Rap Music today, History of Hip-Hop and the difference between an MC and a Rapper. Ice-T says he has noticed the changing terrain of the music industry since he first stepped in the game 20 years ago. "I think all music, not just rap, has fallen into this very diluted, delusional state where everyone's singing about money, having cars and having fun when really people are losing their homes," he says. Ice-T says, "We've got wars. We've got unemployment. But the music doesn't reflect that. I challenge anyone to find music on the radio that reflects that."
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Ice-T Gives A Hip-Hop History Lesson In 'The Art Of Rap' : NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=154962021[6/18/2012 11:43:35 AM]
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Ice-T Gives A Hip-Hop History Lesson In 'The Art Of Rap'
Copyright ©2012 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, priorpermission required.
Heard on Morning Edition
June 14, 2012 - DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Let's hear, now, about a documentary with quite a soundtrack. The hip-hop artist Ice-T wants youto think about the art of making rap music.
ICE-T: This film isn't about the money, the cars, the jewelry, the girls. This film is about the craft -what it takes to write a rap, what goes on inside the head of the masters.
GREENE: Ice-T has come a long way since the time 20 years ago, when his lyrics to the song"Cop Killer" sparked a huge, national controversy. He has a new documentary out that took himfrom Harlem and the South Bronx to Detroit and South Central, Los Angeles.
Ice-T talked to artists like Doug E. Fresh, Ice Cube, Snoop Dog, Run DMC. And he focused onhow these artists go about creating rap lyrics and beats. Ice-T joined us from member stationWABE in Atlanta. Good morning, and thanks for talking to us.
ICE-T: Hey, thanks for having me, man. It's cool to be here.
GREENE: You said that this was a film that you just had to make because, as you put it, rap musicsaved your life. Can you explain that?
ICE-T: Well, you know, before rap came along, I was, actually, actively in the streets; getting introuble, doing the wrong thing. My father died early. My mother died early. I started hanging withthe gangs. I'm on the streets; I'm committing crimes. And the music came along, and this musicjust took me on a different road. I mean, now you see me, I'm on television. I'm on "Law & Order";I'm playing the cops.
I mean, if it wasn't for rap - that was my first step into the legitimate world. Now, people look at melike oh, I love him; he's so respectable.
(LAUGHTER)
ICE-T: You know, I was a pretty bad person early in my life.
GREENE: Rap, there's a lot of - I mean there's a lot of anger that you can hear. Was it a way toexpress the anger and frustration of, you know, a tough life on the streets?
ICE-T: Well, rap is rock 'n' roll. Rock is when you push the buttons in the system; when you say,I'm not going along with what you're saying. That's rock, whether it's done with guitars, or it's donewith just beats. So rap is rock - and there's anger in rock. There's anger in punk. It's a real voice,uncensored, and you will hear anger when you uncensor the voice.
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Ice-T Gives A Hip-Hop History Lesson In 'The Art Of Rap' : NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=154962021[6/18/2012 11:43:35 AM]
GREENE: Let's talk about the creation. You do call rap an art, and I wanted to play one clip ofwhat rapper Big Daddy Kane told you in the film.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "SOMETHING FROM NOTHING: THE ART OF RAP")
ICE-T: What's the difference between a rapper and an MC?
BIG DADDY KANE: Well, a rapper is, you know, someone that rhymes. I mean, you can considerDr. Seuss a rapper.
ICE-T: Right.
BIG DADDY KANE: You know, that's someone that rhymes, you know? You rhyme cat with hat,you know, then you can be considered a rapper. MC is someone that either has that party-rockingskill or that lyrical skill.
ICE-T: Right.
BIG DADDY KANE: Doug E. Fresh, Busy B...
(LAUGHTER)
GREENE: I don't know if Dr. Seuss would love every bit of the rap that you guys make. But I guessI wonder, I mean do you consider you and other MCs poets? Is that the art that we're talkingabout?
ICE-T: Really, when you say the word MC, people don't even really know what that word means.See, back in the day - I'll give you a little, quick history lesson.
GREENE: Yeah, give it to us.
ICE-T: Back in the day, DJs found out, with the use of a mixer, that they could play the breakdownof a record. That's the part where the record goes (Singing) Get down, do-dum, do-dum, do-dum.
And they usually - there's no words over the break. When you're at a club and the breaks happens,that's when you try your best moves. That's when you dance the best. So the hip-hop DJ foundout that since that's the best part of the record, why play any other part of it? So before you knowit, the DJs are spinning Steve Miller Band. They're playing Aerosmith. You know, I used to have myDJ play Black Sabbath, like (Singing) Dun-dun, do-dun, dun, boom-ta, boom-boom-ta-boom-boom.
OK, the kids that really danced off it were called break dancers. That's what breaking means, thedancing off the break of a record. Now, the DJ is doing this incredible thing. He hands the mic tosomebody and says, tell them how great I am.
(LAUGHTER)
ICE-T: That's an MC, a master of ceremonies. Now, the MC would say hey, the DJ is good but youknow, I'm kind of fly. And he slowly stole the show, and he's supposed to be rapping about the DJ.So when we say a rapper, a rapper can say a rhyme. But an MC can rock a party, you know?
And I guess you consider us poets. I would say competition poetry - or verbal gymnast, because alot of the great poetry doesn't rhyme.
GREENE: Here, rhyming is always important.
ICE-T: Here, rhyming is essential.
GREENE: The evolution of your life was kind of - I thought - captured in a New York Times BookReview, when you came out with a memoir last year. They said you've gone from robbing peopleto rhyming for them; from singing about killing cops, to playing a cop on camera. And you, ofcourse, on "Law and Order: SUV," as Fin. And I guess I wonder, being a cop on screen so often,and looking back to "Cop Killer" 20 years ago - I mean, what do you reflect about?
ICE-T: I mean, honestly, I've never been a cop hater. You know, when I was breaking the law, the
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It's impossible to make a transitionfrom physical to digital if you'venever known anything else.
Ice-T Gives A Hip-Hop History Lesson In 'The Art Of Rap' : NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=154962021[6/18/2012 11:43:35 AM]
cops were the opponent. I just thought I could outsmart them. Anybody who speeds thinks they canoutsmart the cops. So at that time, you know, I was breaking the law. I knew what the law was; Iwas breaking it. Why am I mad at the police?
"Cop Killer" was a song about brutal police. It was a year before Rodney King, and I was living inthe world where the cops were snatching people out the car, beating their (BLEEP). So I was like,what if somebody went on a binge after y'all, after the brutal cops. How would you feel about that?
GREENE: I want to play one more clip from Big Daddy Kane in the movie.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "SOMETHING FROM NOTHING: THE ART OF RAP")
ICE-T: If you were going to personally train a rapper to be great - you met a new cat - what wouldbe the first lesson you'd give him?
BIG DADDY KANE: Well, the first thing I would try to teach him - the very first thing would beoriginality. You know, say - I think that is so important because it's like it is - whenever you'refollowing a trend, trends come and go.
ICE-T: True.
BIG DADDY KANE: So, when that trend is gone, you're gone.
You're basing your career on a banging beat and a catchy hook. So you know what you just did?
ICE-T: What did you do?
BIG DADDY KANE: You just made your producer a star.
GREENE: And I - that last bit right there - you just made the producer a star - I guess I wonder,what is rap and hip-hop today? Is it less about lyrics; and is it more about the beat, and theproducers getting more attention?
ICE-T: Yeah. Truthfully, you know, a weak rapper can hide behind a lot of production. And that'swhy, in the film, we didn't have them rap with music. We always did the a cappella version so youcan actually hear the lyrics.
I think all music - not just rap - has fallen into this very diluted, delusional state, where everyone'ssinging about money and having cars, and having all this fun; when really, people are losing theirhomes. You've got the Wall Street situation, the sub-prime situation. You've got a black president.We've got wars. We've got unemployment. But the music doesn't reflect that. And I challengeanybody to show me a music that's on the radio that reflects that.
GREENE: Ice-T, thank you so much for talking to us.
ICE-T: Church.
GREENE: That's rap musician Ice-T, speaking to us from member station WABE in Atlanta abouthis new documentary, "Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
GREENE: This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm David Greene.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And I'm Renee Montagne.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Copyright © 2012 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used inany media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only,pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for furtherinformation.
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Ice-T Gives A Hip-Hop History Lesson In 'The Art Of Rap' : NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=154962021[6/18/2012 11:43:35 AM]
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Thank you very much for a full transcript of this awesome interview. Cheers to NPR notCensoring its web or radio presence!
I guess its really no wonder I grew up in the 90s into the early 21st century listening to musicfrom the 60s-80s, I think Ice-T really hit it on the dot how music doesn't portray a realisticpicture of our society today. Even though I'm not really into it, I think hip hop and rap have alot of potential if they can get past being watered down with profanity and unrealistic, andoften misogynistic, pictures of life. I think a lot of it also has to do with how you deal with andportray that anger he said is in the uncensored voice
Ice-T is legit, as is NPR Music. Long live online music.
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To Mr. Grosstackle: Also to Linda Wilson and Michael Kegan: I am not particularly a fan of Rap / Hip Hop, thus I am not weighing in to defend it. Still, Mr.Grosstackle's implication(s) regarding just one infamous composition in the early career ofIce-T only demonstrates intolerance on your part. The song is in no way is indicitive of whathe is all about today, and If you listened to all of his words in this story, you may haverealized that the song was a reaction to police brutality going on all over the country, andparticularly indemic in L.A. at that time. The song slightly pre-dates the Rodney King incident,so it wasn't written as a reaction to it, just to what was regularly happening on the streets. Hehas not apologized for the song in as much as admitting that many feared for their safetyfrom the very people entrusted to protect them. You likely never could relate to this type offear. And to Linda and Michael, your extreme reaction to this topic clearly speaks volumns.So to paraphrase Mr. Grosstackle's line; "way to keep it classy".
Ice Tea on a hot summer's day. It doesn't get better. Know what I say? Now keep it tight!
I forgot, Ice T is the man!
Alright, for all the rap haters who decided to come on here just to talk nonsense, rap ismusic. If you are judging based on pop rap, you clearly aren't as smart as you try to conveyon NPR message boards. You want rap that uses "real instraments", check out The Roots.You want rap with minimal profanity, check out KRS-One and Blackalicious. And if you stilldon't like it, fine. At least have some courtesy and go spew your ignorance on yahoo.
Hip hop/rap: lots of profanity, little use of musical instruments.
Don't believe me? Listen to the top 10 rap/hip hop songs on Billboard's charts.
Ice-T reveals he is a Hip-Hop artist with a diverse range of musical tastes and culturallyaware of the role music plays in communicating the issues of the time. If you want to knowabout this country's history, listen to the balladeers and artistic rebels of that time. Icompletely agree that so little of music says anything about what's really happening in societyand world in general. Welcome to the age of crass commercialization where reality TV rulesover great productions - Comedy Central means more than evening news and YouTube isplatform for legal exploitation.
Add Ice-T to the Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Justin Bieber, Tiny Tim Christmas,Elvis Castello Christmas album.
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Ice-T Gives A Hip-Hop History Lesson In 'The Art Of Rap' : NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=154962021[6/18/2012 11:43:35 AM]
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