Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958 in
Newark, New Jersey) better known by his stage name,
Ice-T, is a
rapper,
actor, and
author. He is credited with helping create
gangsta rap in the late 1980s.
Personal background
Although one of
West Coast hip hop's leading figures, Marrow, son of Solomon and Alice,
was actually born in urban
Newark,
New Jersey, and christened Tracy by his father. When he was a child, he moved from his native Newark to the upscale community of
Summit, New Jersey. His mother died of a heart attack when he was in third grade and his father died of a heart attack four years later.
After his father died, he went to live with his paternal aunt in
California and later attended
Crenshaw High School in the district of the same name in
South Central Los Angeles.
[Goldstein, Patrick. "The Hard Cold Rap of Ice-T." Los Angeles Times. April 24, 1988. Calendar Desk 89.][Ice-T Biography. allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 2008-07-08.] After high school, he entered the
25th Infantry Division in the
United States Army, an experience he has said he did not enjoy.