BODY COUNT's ICE-T Explains Importance Of Having His Family On Tour With Him: 'It's More Fun'

In a new interview with Graspop Metal Meeting, BODY COUNT frontman, hip-hop legend, actor and director Ice-T was asked how important it is for him to be surrounded by friends and family on tour these days. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I really wouldn't do this if I couldn't do it with my family at this point. It's different. I'll keep it real. When you're young, you're out here fucking everything that moves, just running around. A young artist, this is a different world. But once you get older and you've got your family, it gets boring out here if you're by yourself. You're going away from home for a couple of months, you're missing your kids, your family, so being able to bring your wife, being able to bring your kids, being able to incorporate your family into the show, that gives it another meaning. It's more fun. I remember them old days where I didn't give a fuck. I was out here trying to put some pipe down. [Laughs]"

Ice-T's BODY COUNT bandmate, guitarist Ernie "C" Cunnigan chimed in: "And being that we don't do drugs or don't drink or anything, so we have a lot of time."

Ice-T continued: "We have two tour buses. We have a family tour bus with the wives and kids, and we have a — we call it the 'jail bus,' the other bus with all the crew and all the guys."

BODY COUNT recently released the official music video for "Psychopath", its first new single since 2020's "Bum-Rush", which won a Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance". The new track, which features FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY vocalist Joe Badolato, shows Ice-T and crew on maximum killing overdrive and primed for the next chapter of the legendary Los Angeles-based band's 35-plus-year career. Longtime collaborator Will Putney (KNOCKED LOOSE, THE GHOST INSIDE) produced the song, which was released via Century Media Records.

Directed by Jay Scorsese, the "Psychopath" video pulls inspiration from fictional and real-life horrors, with references spanning from Jason Voorhees to Ted Bundy. Check it out below.

"Psychopath" is taken from BODY COUNT's upcoming album, "Merciless", the follow-up to "Carnivore", which was released to critical acclaim in March 2020, just a week before COVID shut the entire world down.

BODY COUNT's European "Merciless" tour kicked off on June 5 at Mystic festival in Poland and will bring the band to some of the world's biggest festivals and venues, across more than a dozen countries. After returning to the States, they will perform at Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky and Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.

For BODY COUNT, it's been a history of being both respected and feared — a barbed-wire thread that stretches back to the band's origins as a project between Ice-T and Crenshaw High friend Ernie C. Their first shot fired, the song "Body Count", was a mission statement on Ice-T's 1991 "O.G. - Original Gangster". That's the blueprint they've been running on for more than 35 years.

They touched a nerve with their first, self-titled 1991 album and its divisive track "Cop Killer", which inspired hatred, fear, and paranoia, but also inspired generations of bands to follow. What they took from growing up with BLACK SABBATH and being inspired by fellow L.A. legends like SLAYER and SUICIDAL TENDENCIES has only upped the ante for generations of homies and hardcore fans.

BODY COUNT's current line-up includes surviving O.G.s Ice-T, Ernie C. and Sean E. Sean joined by bassist Vincent Price, drummer Will "Ill Will" Dorsey, Juan "Juan Of The Dead" Garcia and backing vocalist Little Ice.

"Carnivore" continued the path of its uncompromising and critically acclaimed predecessors, "Bloodlust" and "Manslaugther", in pairing Ice-T's impassioned and socio-critical lyrics with thick guitar riffs and nods to metal and hardcore greats like SLAYER, METALLICA, PANTERA, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. Guest musicians on the LP included Amy Lee (EVANESCENCE),Dave Lombardo (ex-SLAYER),Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Riley Gale (POWER TRIP).

BODY COUNT was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, which was held in March 2021 in Los Angeles. BODY COUNT was nominated for "Bum-Rush", a track from "Carnivore".