Ice-T’s look at Elevating Cane’s wasn’t nearly sipping iced tea on Nationwide Iced Tea Day. It was about celebrating originality, a worth he says each he and the rooster chain maintain shut.
The legendary rapper and actor made an look on the quick meals chain in New York to have fun the iced-out event, the place The Blast was on the scene to catch each second.
And whereas the occasion might have been about candy tea, Ice-T served up one thing even stronger…uncooked knowledge on staying true to your self in a world stuffed with imitators.
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Ice-T Appears to be like Again On His Journey From Underground MC To Cultural Pioneer
Trying again on his storied profession, Ice-T mirrored on his rise from underground MC to full-blown cultural pioneer.
“I’m simply making an attempt to beat me,” he mentioned on the occasion. “I wasn’t actually conscious that so many individuals have been dwelling related lives. For me, the key phrase has at all times been originality. Be authentic.”
Ice-T acquired his begin within the early ‘80s Los Angeles hip-hop scene after a stint within the Military, the place he was first uncovered to the style. Submit-discharge, he immersed himself in DJing, throwing events, and performing with the influential group Uncle Jamm’s Military.
In 1987, he landed a cope with Sire Information and dropped his debut album “Rhyme Pays,” making historical past as one of many first artists to slap a parental advisory label on an album.
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However what really cemented his legacy was his unfiltered depiction of avenue life, drawn straight from private expertise.
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His Avenue Hustle Helped Delivery Gangsta Rap
Earlier than music, Ice-T was knee-deep within the L.A. hustle, drug dealing, and surviving the realities of life on the streets. He channeled that uncooked reality into his music, serving to beginning the style now referred to as gangsta rap.
“I come from an period of hip-hop the place you couldn’t sound like anybody else,” Ice-T mentioned. “You couldn’t gown like anybody else. That’s been the important thing to my life. I at all times say to go searching, see what everybody else is doing, and don’t try this. If you wish to be authentic, be your self.”
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Ice-T Groups Up With Elevating Cane’s For A Celebration Of Originality
Standing beside a cup of candy tea and a Elevating Cane’s field combo, Ice-T shared the core philosophy that’s guided him from the streets of L.A. to world fame.
“I at all times simply attempt to be me,” Ice-T shared in the course of the occasion. “I used to be unaware that so many individuals stay related lives, however the key phrase in my life is originality. I come from a world in hip-hop the place you need to be totally different, and you need to respect originality, identical to Cane’s. I like authentic issues.”
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Ice-T Embraces Being One-Of-A-Type
The partnership was a pure match for the cultural icon, whose decades-long profession is rooted in authenticity and standing out from the gang.
“I’m an open ebook,” he mentioned earlier than leaping into how a lot his life and profession have modified through the years. “Proper now, for those who advised children I’m a rapper, they get confused,” he joked. “I met a younger lady who mentioned she’s been watching me [on ‘SVU’] her entire life however was shocked to know I do music.”
Whether or not it’s via his music, appearing, or private philosophy, Ice-T has at all times embraced being one-of-a-kind, and now, he’s doing the identical alongside a model that prides itself on holding issues recent and authentic.
Being Actual Is The Solely Flex
Ice-T additionally acquired actual in regards to the sort of individuals he respects most. “I solely respect the wealthy now in the event that they’re authentic. If I catch you making an attempt to be another person, I lose respect,” he mentioned candidly. “I like people who find themselves simply sincere about who they’re.”
That authenticity even extends to his now-famous nickname, “OG.” Many followers assume it simply means “authentic gangster,” however Ice-T broke it down.
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“OG stands for ‘authentic gangster,’ yeah, however in L.A. slang, it additionally means the originators, like those who invented a set, a mode. Like the unique Chuck Taylors, the unique 501 denims. When gangsta rap got here out and Ice Dice mentioned, ‘Straight outta Compton,’ the press referred to as it gangsta rap, however I used to be out two years earlier than N.W.A. So I mentioned, ‘If that’s gangsta rap, then I’m the unique gangster.’ That’s the place OG comes from.”
In true Ice-T style, he closed the dialog with a gem. “I discovered that telling the reality was a model. That’s what I’ve been doing, staying sincere with myself,” he mentioned. “And it’s an exquisite factor.”
From the streets of South Central to Nationwide Iced Tea Day at Elevating Cane’s, Ice-T stays unapologetically himself, and that’s precisely why he’ll at all times be the OG.
