{"id":564477,"date":"2026-05-03T19:32:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T19:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/564477\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T19:32:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T19:32:23","slug":"ice-t-at-home-with-the-body-count-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/564477\/","title":{"rendered":"Ice T: at home with the Body Count star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rapper, metal singer, actor, reality TV star \u2013 Ice T<\/a> has done it all, and has the lavish house to prove it. In 2020, as his band Body Count<\/a> prepared to release their seventh album, Carnivore<\/a>, the Ice Man threw open the doors of his home to show Metal Hammer around.<\/p>\n

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\"Lightning\n<\/p>\n

Walk into Ice T\u2019s house and you are immediately greeted by a breathtaking oil painting of his wife Coco, lying naked with her back arched, tendrils of red fabric strategically placed. Across the narrow entranceway, there\u2019s a portrait of the couple\u2019s late bulldog Spartacus, the animal that co-starred on their reality show, Ice Loves Coco, which ran for three seasons from June 2011 to January 2013.<\/p>\n

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A narrow staircase leads up to the first floor where Coco invites us in and offers us drinks. Dressed in a skin-tight beige top, camouflage pants and sporting pink-red hair, she\u2019s as much a celebrity as her husband. Standing next to Coco is the couple\u2019s adorable young daughter, Chanel.<\/p>\n

Article continues below <\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

A minute later, Ice strides into the living room wearing a black baseball cap, a hoodie, sweatpants and untied white Nike high-top sneakers. After a few minutes of small talk with Coco, about the neighbourhood and the modern architecture of their house, Ice tactfully injects himself into the conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis place works for me,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a Miami home in the middle of New Jersey. \u201cEveryone in Jersey has got Colonial houses and that reminds me of slavery. No way was I gonna live in a Colonial.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Ice\n<\/p>\n

Ice T at home in 2020 with his dogs Alexus and Maximus (Image credit: Justin Borucki)<\/p>\n

This ain\u2019t Beverly Hills or Greenwich Village, New York. This is suburban Edgewater, New Jersey, and for the past five years it has been the home turf of Ice-Mothafuckin\u2019-T. Ice was attracted to Edgewater by the panoramic cityscapes, the variety of restaurants and, perhaps most of all, the 15-minute commute to Chelsea Piers, where Law & Order: SVU, is shot. For the past 20 years, Ice T has played Detective Odafin \u2018Fin\u2019 Tutuola on the hit series.<\/p>\n

At 62, Ice still looks street-lethal \u2013 tall and muscular with a thin, dark moustache and a short, anchor-shaped beard unflecked by grey hairs. In conversation he\u2019s friendly and verbose, but even when he\u2019s smiling, his eyes reflect an underlying intensity.<\/p>\n

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As he sits on a white leather couch decorated with pink and purple pillows, his two English bulldogs Maximus (eight-year-old son of Spartacus) and Alexus (the newest addition to the family) sit faithfully by his side. He\u2019s most excited to talk about the new Body Count album, Carnivore, which includes songs about inherent savagery, police brutality and income inequality. The colourful pillows and children\u2019s toys scattered across the room contrast with Ice\u2019s OG image.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people used to come over to my house, they would expect to see motherfuckers hanging off meat hooks \u2019cause they been listening to my music,\u201d Ice says. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018What you think I was robbing and stealing for back in the day?\u2019 The most brutal criminals I\u2019ve ever met are in search of peace. They want that house with a fence around it, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Ice\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Justin Borucki)<\/p>\n

Body Count\u2019s frontman has come a long way since he was a teenager on the streets of Los Angeles. But Ice T isn\u2019t entirely a product of his environment. Born Tracy Lauren Marrow in Newark, New Jersey, Ice grew up in the nearby suburb Summit in a duplex house on a quiet street. When he was in the third grade (the third year of primary school), his mother died of a heart attack. He was raised by his father, who worked as a conveyor belt mechanic.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re broke, jacking one car stereo would double your income. You realise that and then you start to do other things.<\/p>\n

Ice T<\/p>\n

Then, tragedy struck again. When Ice was 12, his dad died of coronary failure so Ice moved in with his father\u2019s sister, who lived in a safe part of Los Angeles. Although Ice befriended some of the Rollin 60\u2019s Neighborhood Crips street gang in high school, he didn\u2019t become a gangster until he graduated and moved into his own place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was 17 and I was living on Kansas Avenue for $100 a month and it was
the scariest place I\u2019d been,\u201d he says. \u201cI was getting $250 a month from Social Security because my parents had passed. So I would pay my rent, budget $100 a month for food and keep $50 in my pocket. That\u2019s when I got into crime because when you\u2019re broke, jacking one car stereo would double your income. You realise that and then you start to do other things.\u201d<\/p>\n

BODY COUNT – Bum-Rush (OFFICIAL VIDEO) – YouTube
\n\"BODY<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

Ice T specialised in robbing jewellery stores before he decided he wanted to be a rapper and didn\u2019t want to risk his career by getting arrested. And he has come a long way since his 1983 debut rap single, The Coldest Rap\/Cold Wind Madness. He released his first album, Rhyme Pays, in 1987 (one of eight rap records) and launched Body Count in 1990 with the controversial single
Cop Killer.<\/p>\n

Ice lived in 11 houses or apartments before putting out his comeback metal record, 2014\u2019s Manslaughter. The next year, he and Coco moved to their luxury home in Edgewater. The cosy upscale community is adjacent to the Hudson River and is a mere nine miles from New York City, so real estate here is a commodity. That\u2019s why the couple bought the frame of a house and hired a construction team to build it up instead of outward. To travel from one floor to the next, they ride a glass elevator.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was overkill \u2019til I actually started living vertically,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd then when you walk up to the fourth floor and you go, \u2018Oh shit, I left my sunglasses downstairs,\u2019 that\u2019s when you realise you need a fucking elevator.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Ice\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Justin Borucki)<\/p>\n

Downstairs in the kitchen, Coco explains how they chose white cabinetry because it complements any other colour in the house. As she talks, Chanel uses her rhinestone-decorated iPad to take pictures of her parents and their visitors. Before their daughter was born, Ice and Coco often ate out. Now, they\u2019re usually too tired, so Coco has started cooking Ice\u2019s favourite foods, including tacos, lasagne and spaghetti.<\/p>\n

The most brutal criminals I\u2019ve ever met are in search of peace. They want that house with a fence around it, man.<\/p>\n

Ice T<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a decent cook,\u201d Ice says. \u201cI had to teach her to stick to the recipe, though, \u2019cause it\u2019ll say to use one spoon of sugar. She\u2019ll be like, \u2018Well, if one is good, a couple more will be even better.\u2019 I have to keep that shit in check.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s not hanging out with Coco and Chanel or playing videogames on his giant screen TV (\u201cI like shooters because I can murder people without going to jail\u201d), Ice sometimes works on voiceover parts using GarageBand on an upstairs computer. But he saves the bulk of his vocal work for band sessions since he opted not to have a home studio. Years ago, Ice relished his home studio, but these days he thinks of studio time the same way he views hitting the gym.<\/p>\n

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\"Ice\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Justin Borucki)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something about getting ready and going to the gym that makes you work out more when you\u2019re there than you would if it was in your house,\u201d Ice says. \u201cAt home, I get onto the bench and I fall asleep. I\u2019m not really working out. Same with the studio. There\u2019s a ritual. I go and I commit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stairwells and hallways are decorated with a m\u00e9lange of abstract art, music memorabilia (gold and platinum records, concert photos), images of the family (including the dogs) and tributes from fans. One of the highlights of the house is the lavish master bedroom, which features red wall-to-wall carpeting, another big-screen TV, a robotic-looking reclining chair and a king-sized bed with matching decorative pillows. Ice and Coco jokingly call the bed \u2018The Disney Wild Safari Ride\u2019 since they co-sleep with Chanel and are often joined by the dogs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cute and funny because we\u2019re all romping around the bed,\u201d Ice says. \u201cBut at the same time, it\u2019s frustrating because we have to make special arrangements to have any kind of sex.\u201d<\/p>\n

BODY COUNT – Point The Finger feat. Riley Gale (OFFICIAL VIDEO) – YouTube
\n\"BODY<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t just the family chaos that challenges the couple\u2019s sex life. Ice works late and often travels. One thing that doesn\u2019t get in the way is his age. \u201cI just turned 62 and I\u2019m still knocking it out the park,\u201d he says with a smile. \u201cI can still make a baby through a brick wall. Once you stop having sex, I don\u2019t know what the reason is to be alive. To me, it\u2019s the energy that drives life and inspires everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

I just turned 62 and I\u2019m still knocking it out the park. I can still make a baby through a brick wall.<\/p>\n

Ice T<\/p>\n

The bedroom closet was originally designed to hold both Ice and Coco\u2019s clothes. Now, it\u2019s just Ice\u2019s and contains old stage wear, formal outfits, and tons of sneakers. However, it pales in comparison to the two guest bedrooms the couple combined into Coco\u2019s wardrobe, a whole wall of which is filled with colourful stilettos.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool, \u2019cause now when we have guests, there\u2019s no room for them so they have to stay in a hotel,\u201d says Ice, adding that Coco\u2019s clothing nook was part of a trade-off for his seven-car collection, which is housed in the garage on a two-level hydraulic lift designed for maximal storage.<\/p>\n

Of course, the floor with the master bedroom wouldn\u2019t please the master if it didn\u2019t contain a giant Jacuzzi decorated with lights that change colour at random. \u201cMy buddies told me, \u2018If you didn\u2019t have a baby, that pool would get somebody pregnant,\u2019\u201d Ice says. \u201cBut now, with Chanel here, we fill it up and it\u2019s like a mini swimming pool, so even though it\u2019s too cold to use the outdoor pool, we can still hang out in the family tub.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Ice\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Justin Borucki)<\/p>\n

To conclude the tour, Ice leads us back to the elevator where we ascend to the roof deck. There\u2019s a bite in the air, but it\u2019s just sunny enough to check out the waterside views of the George Washington Bridge and Midtown Manhattan. As we prepare to exit, Coco gives us tight hugs and Ice, who has been a damn good sport (normally he hates giving house tours) shakes our hands. Someone jokes that since it\u2019s still before dinner, Ice can break out the Courvoisier, invite some friends over, dim the lights and crank the tunes.<\/p>\n

\u201cNahhh,\u201d he says, then smiles. \u201cI grew up around so many people at all times, now I like privacy. When you guys leave, I probably won\u2019t have anybody over here for a couple of weeks. But I don\u2019t do social things. I don\u2019t drink, I don\u2019t smoke weed. So what the fuck are we going to do? Know what I\u2019m saying? I don\u2019t have social engagements. I play video games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published in Metal Hammer issue 335 (April 2020)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rapper, metal singer, actor, reality TV star \u2013 Ice T has done it all, and has the lavish…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-564477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}