10 Outrageous Omissions From The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

2. Ice-T

Tracy Marrow was an ex-soldier and criminal when he heard the song that changed his life. He was already a fan of early rap bands like the Sugarhill Gang, and had even tried his own hand at rapping, but it was Schoolly D's "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?" that turned Marrow into Ice-T, the inevitable amalgam of Johnny Cash and Gil Scott-Heron. Sire Records signed Ice-T after its head, Seymour Stein, compared his confessional style to Bob Dylan's. Rhyme Pays, the first hip-hop album to feature a parental advisory label, went gold, immediately proving the theory that Tipper stickers actually helped sell the very records the PMRC wanted banned. He was asked by Dennis Hopper to write the theme song to Colors, a film about Los Angeles cops dealing with gang violence, a subject close to Ice-T's heart. He began to act in films like New Jack City, paving the way for future rapper-actor hyphenates. He started a hardcore punk/metal band in Body Count, whose song "Cop Killer" sparked moral outrage from vice president Dan Quayle and professional dung-stirrers like the NRA (that's how you know it's a great song). The racially-tinged backlash prompted Ice-T to compare himself to writers and filmmakers who portray acts of violence - also proving that many of the higher-ups don't know the difference between punk and hip-hop. Ice-T is perhaps best known as a TV cop now (oh, the irony), but his scar on the music industry can't be ignored. The Hall has inducted rap bands before, recognising early hip-hop's contribution to pop music and culture. It only makes sense that the poet-laureate of vice and criminality get in.