Body Count's self-titled debut album was released on Sire Records in 1992, and garnered much attention due to a controversy around the song "Cop Killer". Their label, Sire Records, and their parent company, Warner Bros. Records, defended the song; however Ice-T chose to remove it from the album because he felt that the controversy had eclipsed the music itself. The group left Sire the following year, and they have since released six more albums.
Three out of the band's original seven members are deceased: D-Roc died from lymphoma, Beatmaster V from leukemia and Mooseman in a drive-by shooting. Body Count's current lineup includes vocalist Ice-T, guitarists Ernie C and Juan Garcia, bassist Vincent Price, drummer Will "Ill Will" Dorsey Jr., and backing vocalists Sean E Sean and Little Ice, the latter of whom is Ice-T's son.
The band received their second Grammy nomination and later won the award at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021 for Best Metal Performance with their song "Bum Rush" from the album Carnivore.
Ice-T's interest in heavy metal stemmed from sharing a room with his cousin Earl, who was a fan of rock music and only listened to the local rock stations. Ice-T particularly enjoyed heavy metal, citing Edgar Winter, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath as his favorite bands. Ice-T attended Crenshaw High School, where a few classmates shared his interest in the genre, including musicians Ernie C, D-Roc the Executioner, Beatmaster V, and Mooseman. Ice-T began a solo career as a rapper, and later decided to form Body Count with these friends.
Ice-T co-wrote the band's music and lyrics with lead guitarist Ernie C, and took on the duties of lead vocalist, even though he felt that he did not have a great singing voice. The original line-up consisted of D-Roc on rhythm guitar, Beatmaster V on drums and Mooseman on bass,
Body Count's musical style derives from the dark, ominous tones of traditional heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath and thrash metal bands such as Slayer, as well as hardcore punk's aggressiveness. According to Ernie C, "We wanted to be a big punk band [...] Our first record is almost a punk record." The presence of a rapper in a heavy metal band has been credited for paving the way for the rise of rap metal and nu metal, even though Ice-T does not rap in most Body Count songs and considers it to solely be a rock band. According to Ernie C, "A lot of rappers want to be in a rock band, but it has to be done sincerely. You can't just get anybody on guitar and expect it to work. [...] Ice and I, on the other hand, really loved the music we were doing, and it showed.
Who Are You
Body Count Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause you drink all muthafuckin' day
You come home hit mom, smack mom, beat mom,
Raise another brew to your face with you
Swollen palm
Then you come in my room talkin' crazy shit
Sayin' I'm high, I'm on dope and I better quit
Muthafucka, if I was high you would die,
Who are you tryin' to judge me?
Get the fuck out my face
Who put you so above me?
Clear the fuck out my space
You say that I want sex all the time
That's all that seems to be on my muthafuckin' mind
Well that's right I want sex all the time
That's all that seems to be on my muthafuckin' mind
Well that's right I want sex every minute,
Every hour of the day,
Of the week, all the muthafuckin' time
But hold up who are you tryin' to talk shit,
You'll hit your knees suckin' dick with a quickness
In the park, dark, car, grass, lickin' nuts,
Suckin' butt,
With your tongue up my fuckin' ass,
Who are you tryin' to judge me?
Get the fuck out my face
Who put you so above me?
Clear the fuck out my space
Get the fuck out my face
Yeah
Who are you tryin' to judge me?
Get the fuck out my face
Who put you so above me?
Clear the fuck out my space
You need to stay the fuck out my face
Stay the fuck out my got damnned face
The lyrics of Body Count's "Who are you" entail the defiant stance of an individual against a hypocritical and abusive authority figure. The song is notable for incorporating various musical styles, such as hardcore punk, metal, and rap, to support its forceful message.
The first verse criticizes the abusive behavior of the father, who drinks excessively and physically assaults the mother, then tries to manipulate the child by accusing them of drug use. The child's anger and determination to protect the mother are evident in the lines "Muthafucka if I was high, you would die / Hit my mom once more, and it's bye-bye."
In the second verse, the individual responds to accusations of being sex-obsessed by pointing out the hypocrisy of the accuser, who is depicted performing sexual acts in "the park, dark, car, grass" and "lickin' nuts, suckin' butt" and "with your tongue up my fuckin' ass". The chorus repeats the line "Who are you tryin' to judge me?", which implies that the accuser is not qualified to make judgments since they have faults of their own.
Overall, the song is a powerful statement of defiance against hypocrisy and abuse, emphasizing the importance of fighting back against oppressive forces.
Line by Line Meaning
You say that I hang out all night, that's okay,
You are criticizing me for staying out late, but it's fine for you to drink all day and come home to hit and abuse our mother.
Then you come in my room talkin' crazy shit
You enter my room and start saying nonsensical things.
Sayin' I'm high, I'm on dope and I better quit
You accuse me of being on drugs and warn me to stop.
Muthafucka, if I was high you would die,
If I really were on drugs, you would suffer the consequences.
You say that I want sex all the time
You claim that I'm always thinking about sex.
But hold up who are you tryin' to talk shit,
But wait a minute, who are you to talk down on me?
You'll hit your knees suckin' dick with a quickness
You are just as guilty of engaging in sexual acts, such as performing oral sex quickly.
Get the fuck out my face
Leave me alone and stop trying to confront me.
You need to stay the fuck out my face
It would be better for everyone if you simply stayed away from me.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: TRACY LAUREN MARROW, ERNEST T CUNNINGAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Chris Wu
on Black Hoodie
[Intro]
All these people out here tripping off police brutality like this shit is something new
Give me a fucking break
I've been talking about this shit for over 20 years
And now you can kill a motherfucker just because of how he's dressed?
Are you fucking serious?
[Hook]
Get on a black hoodie, its hood up on my head
I didn't have a gun, so why am I dead?
You didn't have to shoot me and that's a known fact
And now I'm laying face down with bullets in my back
Get on a black hoodie, its hood up on my head
I didn't have a gun, so why am I dead?
You didn't have to shoot me and that's a known fact
And now I'm laying face down with bullets in my back
[Verse 1]
This is how it happened
Out late night just chilling with my clique
No one had a gun, everyone's legit
One of my boys is drunk, I'm talking toe'd up
He can barely talk off that Cognac
Then the cops roll up, I don't know why he ran
Maybe traffic warrants I still don't understand
That motherfucker's crazy, the homies laughed
He might've got a block and then we heard shots
The fucking cop shot him, yo, a nigga's dead!
They hit him twice in the back, once in the head and leg
We all went crazy on that pig shit
They aimed at us, they meant business
They didn't have to shoot him, he didn't have a gun
What they're gonna say is "Why the fuck he run?"
We can't be seeing this, I'm like "What the fuck?"
My man's laying dead, they still cuffing him up
[Interlude]
You motherfuckers, call the fucking paramedics man
My man's not breathing, man
What the fuck's the matter wit' you, man?
Aw shit
[Hook]
Get on a black hoodie, its hood up on my head
I didn't have a gun, so why am I dead?
You didn't have to shoot me and that's a known fact
And now I'm laying face down with bullets in my back
Get on a black hoodie, its hood up on my head
I didn't have a gun, so why am I dead?
You didn't have to shoot me and that's a known fact
And now I'm laying face down with bullets in my back
[Refrain]
Woop woop, that's the sound of the police
That's the sound on the streets
Woop woop, that's the sound of the police
That's the sound on the streets
Woop woop, that's the sound of the police
That's the sound on the streets
[Verse 2]
Now it's our day in court, we gotta have hope
Maybe some justice, someone got it on video
They say do something, he used to gang bang
They made my homie look like fucking shit on everything
Had on a black hoodie, that's all it took
The DA portrayed him as a dirty fucking street crook
They let the cops off, nobody fucking marched
Nobody had a clue, it's never made the news
[Refrain]
Woop woop, that's the sound of the police
That's the sound on the streets
Woop woop, that's the sound of the police
That's the sound on the streets
Woop woop, that's the sound of the police
That's the sound on the streets
[Outro]
Get on my black hoodie
Get on my black hoodie
Get on my black hoodie