HIP-HOP AT 50: ICE-T, FROM THE STREETS TO THE SIDEWALK

Ice-T flashed a series of rare smiles as his Hollywood Walk of Fame star was unveiled on 2/3. Flanked by Ice Cube, presenter Chuck D, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit co-star Mariska Hargitay and mega-producer Dick Wolf, the seasoned rapper and actor admitted he was hiding his tears behind his sunglasses before posing with his plaque.

"I wore these sunglasses not for fashion, but I knew they might make me cry up in this motherfucker. But let's start if off like this—I never thought I would get a star. I mean, really? The way my life was going, it was like, 'What can we come up in Hollywood and steal?' We was really out here causing problems. This was just out of the question; show business was out of the question. And then hip-hop came and I found something that I could do."

Ice-T's recording career began in the early '80s. In 1987, he released his debut solo album, Rhyme Pays (Sire Records), which helped usher in the gangster rap era.

"What I did was tell the stories of the life I was living, and we invented a genre," he said. "Well, Ice Cube co-invented this genre called gangster rap. When I was doing it, they didn't have a name for it. We were calling it reality rap. Then Cube came out and said, 'Straight outta Compton/ Crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube/ From the gang called N***** With Attitudes." And the press said, 'Oh, well, that's gangster rap. Isn't that gangster rap?' Then I had to follow up Cube and be like, 'OK, well I'm the original gangster. Let's go!'"

Ice-T was accompanied by his wife, Coco Austin, and six-year-old daughter Chanel, who joined her famous father at the podium. Russell Simmons, Afrika Islam, The Rhyme Syndicate and Body Count member Ernie C were among the many special guests.

2023 marks Ice-T's 24th season on Law & Order, the longest-running drama series in television history. While at the Roosevelt Hotel afterparty, the multimedia star wanted nothing more than to run away from us, the original geeks.

Above right: Ice Cube, Chuck D, Hargitay and Wolf; right: Hargitay celebrates her longtime co-star. Photos: Kyle Eustice