Ice-T in Musician magazine, 1993.

"You've got two options: You can become very cynical or you can have some kind of hope. And I've got hope. I don't think it's necessarily gonna change in my lifetime," he avers, "especially racial issues. 'Cause you've got 400 years of one situation, and people who are locked into these traditional modes. You've got the President talking about 'tradition,'" he scoffs. "Well, the tradition of America is holding slaves. Thirty years ago I was on the back of the bus. The good old days? I don't know nothing about that."

"So I have to look forward. Hope is all I have."

 Photo by David Corio.

Quincy Jones, Back on the Block

It’s hard to think of any record that won 7 Grammys as “underrated,” but that’s the kind of unparalleled career Quincy Jones had. I love his new jack swing album Back on the Block, which features Ice-T, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Big Daddy Kane, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, George Benson, Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick, Barry White, Chaka Khan, Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau, Tevin Campbell, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel and more. Ice-T takes the first verse on the title track (link in the comments), which Ernie C told me Ice was working on when Ernie called him up inviting him to record with Jane’s Addiction. Cutting edge in 1989 and a lovable slice of nostalgia today. Thanks, Quincy.

I also love this Ice-T story about Quincy from CNCB in 2011:

Quiet Barb

 

The most DGAF queen I ever met. Barb loved laps, would let anyone pick her up and pet her, and never moved a whisker to stop Evil Tim from destroying the furniture. I loved their partnership—he's as lawless as any animal I know, except he doted on Barb, following her, holding her, and cleaning her, while she took it all in stride. Thank you, Quiet Barb, for teaching me to relax, and thank you cat mom Josie for inviting me into Barb's life.

Body Count (33⅓) is available for pre-order

 On Ice-T's 1991 classic O.G. Original Gangster, he introduced his all-Black hardcore band Body Count with lead guitarist Ernie C, bringing them on the first-ever Lollapalooza tour that summer. The next year, Body Count's self-titled debut album, rounded out by rhythm guitarist D-Roc the Executioner, bassist Mooseman, and drummer Beatmaster V, made them the most incendiary band in the world, confronting white supremacy and police brutality with pulverizing songs that shattered musical boundaries. Body Count's rage and shock humor sparked nationwide protests and boycotts, including death threats, censure from the federal government, a spot on the FBI National Threat list, and a denunciation by the President of the United States. The album was removed from stores and remains banned to this day, but decades later Body Count are performing to their biggest audiences and greatest acclaim, pulling off one of the most remarkable comebacks in punk or metal history.

Drawn from years of research and dozens of new interviews, this is the story of a band of high school friends who revolutionized modern music, brought explosive live performances, and raised questions America's lawmakers didn't want to answer, overcoming some of the country's most powerful forces to reshape the world's cultural conversation.

Available from Bloomsbury.

For Ilja Wachs

I wish everyone could have a teacher like Ilja Wachs. He had a wealth of kindness and wisdom, and opened up more worlds to me than I'll ever be able to count. I've never met anyone else with that contagious enthusiasm for literature, one that elevated everybody's moods and brought out the best in all of us. 

He was like a great musician who knew the notes and scales so well that he could wing it. No syllabus or clear structure, but captivated the room with his brilliance. Every day was magic. I'm sure it's no coincidence that most of my favorite books are ones he taught me.

When I pitched my first book, I connected song lyrics to ideas that Tolstoy explored in War and Peace. When I started to really struggle, I tried modeling it after Moby-Dick. I never would have felt brave enough to try any of that without Ilja's classes years ago. 

Thank you, Ilja, for helping me find myself and for making so many of us the readers we are today. "In token of my admiration for his genius, this book is inscribed to Ilja Wachs."

Stay tuned.

 

Metallica: The 24.95 Book

 

"The metal band everybody knows—but nobody has ever figured out. Ben Apatoff has taken the ultimate deep dive into the dark legend of Metallica, one of rock's weirdest and most fascinating mysteries. In this brilliant book, he tells the definitive story of how a band of nobodies took on the world—and why the world will never be the same."

—Rob Sheffield, author of Dreaming the Beatles

METALLICA: THE $24.95 BOOK looks at Metallica's cultural significance, with chapters devoted to each member, each album, touring, fashion, books, film, influences, fandom, history, and more, exploring the band's ideologies along the way. With more than 125 million records sold worldwide, Metallica is the biggest metal band of all time. Four decades into their unparalleled career, Metallica is a massive cultural force who drastically changed the sound of popular music by creating their own rules. Yet for all their popularity, Metallica can seem impenetrable, raising more questions and inspiring more discourse as their mythos grows.

Metallica, by dedicated fan and music journalist Ben Apatoff, including previously unpublished photos and a foreword by What Are You Doing Here? author Laina Dawes, provides an in-depth look at the band and their music that both die-hard fans and newcomers can enjoy.

Available now.