Ice-T Knows How to Make 'Something Out of Nothing'

Can we get some drinks as well quickly because I'm parched. Can we get just a couple of drinks here?

A drink, I'll see, this is part of the gimmick.

No, it's not. I see Ice-T coming in. I'm Oliver Trivino here at the Young Hollywood Studio with the legend that is Ice-T. How you doing, man?

I'm all right mate, how are you? This is like the coolest studio I ever been in. I'm not gonna lie.

It's nice, right? It's good.

It's kinda like when you would go up into an old apartment building and it was like like lavish crack house in there and you're just like, wow, what's really good? I walked in, there was an 80-inch television and it just kept going and going and going. It's amazing. And you're looking very good, young man. I mean look, you he's so slick. He's got his Gucci shoes on.

Yeah you know, I shine up like a new penny. Yeah, you're doing all right. Yeah.

Worry about earthquakes, man. I's just gonna be all right. Worry about earthquakes, I's gonna be all right. Yeah.

Brilliant. Something from nothing. The Art of Rap, which is your new film, documentary that you've made. We're we're we're we're hours away from a big LA premiere.

Right. You know, so the word is out and everybody's calling me. My phone's going off the chart. I think there's like 500 seats, we got 1,500 RSPV.

I'm not surprised.

So it's gonna be an interesting night. It's gonna be people stuck outside. I'm gonna make sure I get in. It's a folk art. It's folk music. We took a record player and turned it into an instrument. Here's this world, you know, that you may not know about, and the people who lived in that world from the other side of the tracks, gave them a voice. Hip-Hop didn't invent anything. Hip-Hop reinvented everything. Lyrics is what rap is all about. Rhymes that paint pictures for people. This is some of my purpose. This is my perspective. Say something with some dignity behind that rhyme. I mean you can consider Dr. Seuss a rapper. They think you're just talking over a record. It's Q-Tip's voice, it's Snoop's swag and personality. Our only goal was to get into Sundance. Right. That was my bar. That was what I I said, if I can get in Sundance, I've made a good film and we got in Sundance. We got bought the first day by Indomina. And we have a a a theatrical release and this is what doesn't usually happen for documentaries.

It's amazing. I've I've seen it. Yeah. And I will tell the world, it's brilliant.

Yeah, thank you.

Watch it. It's uh, it's refreshing as well because it's you've you've done a different take. It's not just about the, as you say, the bling and the glitz of hip-hop and rap and stuff like that. It's it's the real deal. It's

Why I think, I call that the rock and roll side of the game. You know, uh, you know, the money, the cars, the jewelry, the girls, but bottom line, anyone who's successful is living that kind of lifestyle. You could be any type of entrepreneur, you're gonna party all the time, have sports cars. These things aren't just only in rap. Right. So, let's talk about the craft. Kool Moe Dee said, I run a hundred miles an hour, with lightning speed and power, sweetest of the sweet, making MC sour. Timber as a tower because I devour any MC and I can prove it now or a little bit later. I mean, I could get gone with this. That's right. You know, I've been doing rap for 25 years. No one ever even asked me how I did it. No one ever said, well, how do you write the rhymes? They they get more concerned with who you don't like and, you know, what I'm wearing or something. It's it's not what the craft is all about and that's what this movie is about. I just think because a lot of people see rappers and they see us rap off the top of our head, they think, oh it's easy to do and there's no art there.

What's what's the fresh take on today's hip-hop scene? How would you say it's changed or?

Well, I think the kids got a new problem because people don't go to the record store anymore. I did an interview with a girl the other day and I so, well, I sold six consecutive platinum albums but that's when people went to the record store. She said, what's a record store? Wow. I was like, um, I said like Tower? No, not Tower. FYE. No. She I'm trying to name them and they're all out of business. She goes, like Best Buy? And I'm like, um, Best Buy would prefer to sell you a refrigerator. Right. So, nowadays, you know, because the new culture doesn't, the Young Hollywood doesn't really search for music, they wait for it to come over the radio. They want everything to be fast-fed to them. As an artist, if you don't make radio music, you're not gonna be able to eat, you're not gonna be able to sell records cause everything else on the net is free. So it's very difficult. So it kind of forces everybody into this pop lane. Which, you know, it's not gonna be the most artistic, you know, because pop just follows itself. Whatever is hot last week, that's the next record sounds like. So, that might be great for Britney and Justin, but for Hip-Hop, you know, Hip-Hop needs creativity. It needs to go in different directions. Why you think rap isn't respected? Threatening? Hmm. We're not supposed to be thinking like this. We're not supposed to be talking like this. What are we doing proud of how we talk it with this broken English? How the f*** are we making poetry out of this broken English? Why are you guys bringing street conversation to the mainstream world? Stay in your place, stay out of there. I don't like looking at you. Fix your pants, fix your hat. Y'all supposed to stay in the gutter, get out of here. What are you doing invading my home? Why are my kids liking your music? What's going on?

Right, we're gonna finish with a little game.

Oh Lord.

No, it's, trust me, I'm British. Come on, it's fine. I've got I've got my arms.

Okay. All right. Yeah, and a and a cute dog, too. Let's start with. That's fine. We can play any game.

Can we get some drinks as well quickly? Cuz I'm parched. Can we get just a couple of drinks here?

A drink, I'll see. This is part of the gimmick.

No, it's not. I see Ice-T coming in. I drink ice tea. I actually just had ice tea for lunch. I've I've always had a dream to drink ice tea with Ice-T.

Yeah, but my I'm really Ice capital T. So the worst thing someone can do is put me on a marquee as Ice-T-E-A.

It's a word association word association game. All right. Okay? Cool. So I'm gonna say an artist and you're gonna say the first word that springs to mind. Okay. Here we go. Snoop Dogg.

Oh, uh, West Coast O. G.

Nas.

Nas. Ultimate lyricist. He he definitely is that.

Um, reality television.

Stupid except for Ice Loves Coco. This guy's smart. Smart answers.

Run-D. M. C.

The people that made me understand that rap could be huge. That that made me see it in a whole nother world, that made it rock and roll, made it huge. Like that.

Directing a documentary.

Uh, starts off fun, ends up a lot of work but is extremely rewarding and I'm I'm having the fun right now for the work.

Okay. Young Hollywood.

Really one of the coolest shows I probably ever been on. I ain't never been in a hotel with a with a damn studio in it. This is real pimpish, man.

We can definitely wrap it up.