BODY COUNT's ICE-T: 'It's So Obvious To The World That The United States Is Having A S*** Show Right Now'

In a new interview with Czech Republic's Metalshop TV, BODY COUNT frontman Ice-T and guitarist Ernie "C" Cunnigan were asked if they have already started work on material for the follow-up to the band's "Merciless" album, which came out in November 2024 via Century Media. Ice-T responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "We got a title [for the next BODY COUNT album]. And I just finished my rap album, which is called 'Criminal Migraine', that is coming out this month, on the 17th. I'm not streaming the record. We're going strictly through IceT.com. That's how we're getting ready to sell all our records. We're stopping the streaming. So the fact that I finished that, we're getting ready to start the new BODY COUNT album. So we have a working title. It's gonna be called 'Death Wish'."

As for a possible release date for the next BODY COUNT album, Ice-T said: "It's a process. We're starting from scratch, so it starts off with the guys making riffs and coming up with all these different ideas and stuff, and then we gotta make them into songs. So it could be at least a year off."

On the topic of BODY COUNT's progressively heavier musical direction on the band's most recent albums, Ernie said: "I think it's an evolution. We're just getting harder."

Ice T chimed in: "I think also, you're out here [at various festivals] playing with harder bands, so you wanna compete. And you can see which way the music's going. So everybody's influenced by everything else. So you see the way it sounds. And I'll listen to a band and I'll say, 'Man, I wish we had of made that song.' You know what I'm saying? So now you go in the studio with those influences and it just keeps getting better. But we had a meeting today and I told them together, I said, if we can't make an album better than 'Merciless', we shouldn't make another record. So the object is always to outdo our last album."

Asked if the current political situation in the U.S. is shaping the next BODY COUNT album, Ice-T said: "I write the lyrics. I personally stayed away from politics. We did 'Fuck What You Heard' [with lyrics like] 'both wings are on the same bird' on the last album, because at the end of the day, it's government. Whether you're what side, whatever, it doesn't really matter. At the end of the day, it's government.

"It's so obvious that the United States is having a shit show right now, to the world," Ice-T explained. "So to almost sing about it is redundant. It's, like, we all know it. It's obvious. So I try to pick things that are a little bit more abstract. You could come out and just talk shit about [U.S. president Donald] Trump forever, but it's just, like, the world knows.

"One good thing about being black is we're not held accountable for America's deeds," Ice-T added. "People are, like, 'Y'all black. We not mad at y'all.' We ain't in charge of shit. So we're just going along for the ride. And when [former U.S. president Barack] Obama was in, the world wasn't in this much disarray."

Back in October 2024, just a couple of weeks before that year's U.S. presidential election, Ice-T told Classic Rock magazine that he "despises" Trump. "I think Trump is an absolute piece of shit," he said. "I think people vote with their wallets, so they believe that he's gonna potentially put money in their pockets and some shit. But it didn't happen last time.

"I think the good thing about Trump is that he let the world see how fucked up the United States is," Ice-T continued. "He let the world see how racist and how scandalous a great portion of our country is. Nobody can just look at dude and say he's a solid motherfucker. He's got more fucking felonies than all my criminal friends put together and doesn't even have an ankle bracelet on. It's just showing us how this country is operated and run, so it's crazy."

In February 2017, shortly after Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States, Ice-T was asked by Playboy.com if he was surprised that the billionaire real estate mogul won the U.S. presidency. He responded: "I think we all were surprised that Trump won, because dude be lying. He's a motherfucker. He didn't never show his taxes. He's the ultimate con artist. He's the kind of rich person, when people say they don't like rich people — that's what they mean. I know Richard Branson, I know Mark Cuban — billionaires that you can sit up and kick it with. But Trump is an elitist. He's a demagogue. And yeah, it's scary, man. He's got a lot of power. I come from the gang world, you know. You can't just be talking shit and think the other gangs don't hear you. You can't talk the way he talks and think the rest of the world doesn't see him as their enemy. Once the dude told the world, 'I'm smarter than the generals,' I knew we were up shit creek. But I predict his own supporters will turn on him in six to eight months. So let's just cross our fingers."

In March 2017, Ernie C also weighed in on Trump's presidency based on his first six weeks in the Oval Office. Speaking to Metal Wani about how the political climate in the United states had affected the lyrical content of the band's then-new album, "Bloodlust", Ernie said: "We kind of felt that we would have the president that we would have now — just 'cause of the way the climate of the country felt. It just felt like it was going in the wrong direction. So when he got elected, it wasn't a big surprise, 'cause everything was going in the wrong direction, with him running for office. So he brought up a lot of undercurrent; it came up bubbling up to the top."

He continued: "We had Obama for eight years, and everyone got kind of of comfortable. He was a good president, and we got a little comfortable, and we didn't actually notice all the underlying things that were going on. But Trump got here, and in six weeks — it seems like he's been president for a long time, but it's been six weeks — and he kind of tipped over the table, and everyone's kind of looking around, saying, 'What's going on?' But we felt it all along. You know what I mean?"

The guitarist added: "Twenty-five years ago, we did 'Cop Killer' as a warning. So now, twenty-five years later, it's still going on. Now we're saying, on this record, 'Watch out.' 'Civil War' and songs like that, it's kind of warnings of what we feel. 'Cause being a musician, you get the opportunity to travel to different places, travel around the world. We've gone around the world, and we felt that America, something was happening and it's not exactly right. And it's happening in a lot of different places now — from France to Italy to… even Sweden. A lot of things are happening."

Calling the process of making albums "a way of venting," Ernie praised protesters demonstrating against Trump's executive orders and offered his opinion on why Trump was elected in the first place. He said: "We need for people to get out and about and get out and protest and even vote, but do it in a positive way and have a direction. You can't just say, 'I don't like the president.' You've gotta get out and vote and find something better. 'Cause this last election here in America, we didn't really have a good choice. That's why he won. There's no good choices anymore. People don't want to be in public office — good people. Every once in a while, you get good people in there."

He continued: "Obama was a good man. I always say, whether you liked him as a president or not, he was a good man, he had good values. Right now we've lost all our values. We have someone that's lying… He's on television right now lying. He's just lying and you know it's a lie, but there's still 40 percent of people who follow a person that lies, and they know it's a lie, and they're not worrying about it. They're worrying about getting a job and things like that that are more important. That's more important than morals. And morals help out in a lot of different ways."