Tracy Lauren Marrow born February 16, , [1] better known by his stage name Ice-T , is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, actor, record producer, and author. He began his career as an underground rapper in the s and was signed to Sire Records in , when he released his debut album Rhyme Pays ; the second hip-hop album to carry an explicit content sticker after Slick Rick 's La Di Da Di. He also released several other albums that went Gold. He co-founded the heavy metal band Body Count , which he introduced on his rap album O. The band released their self-titled debut album in