Western rap (that, formally, had been born with Disco Daddy and Captain Rapp's Gigolo Rapp in 1981, and that was mainly based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area) began to compete against Eastern rap thanks to Ice-T, born Tracy Marrow and a former juvenile delinquent. His first singles were Cold Wind Madness (1983), produced by Willie Strong, and Body Rock (1983), produced by Dave Storrs, but the one that made a difference was 6n' Da Mornin (1986), produced by Andre Manuel (DJ Unknown), the first West-Coast single to become popular nation-wide (and perhaps the first "gangsta-rap" anthem). It was included in his first album Rhyme Pays (1987), which began his collaboration with producer Afrika Islam (born Charles Glenn), the album that launched gangsta-rap, hip hop devoted to inner-city gang life. The single Colors (1988), and especially his second album Power (1988), a gallery of harrowing portraits of ghetto violence, solidified his charisma as the bard of the street gangs. If possible, The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech Just Watch What You Say (1989) was even more confrontational. But, more than anything else, this album marked the birth of a truly original West Coast-sound, largely emancipated from the stereotypes of the East Coast.

The double album Original Gangster (1991) completed the progression towards an Ice-T aesthetics, as opposed to a mere ideology. The tales are meant to be more mature (although they often sound just less powerful) and even positive, suddenly offering a much less violent version of ghetto life, but the limited ambitions of the words helped focus on the music. That album's Body Count, a heavy-metal song, became the title of his following project: Body Count, a heavy-metal band, that released Body Count (1991), Born Dead (1994), Violent Demise (1997). For a man who had strived to steer away from the stereotypes of rap, Body Count was a band that indulged in the stereotypes of heavy-metal in a rather clumsy and childish manner.

Ice-T's rap albums Home Invasion (1993), Return of the Real (1996) and 7th Deadly Sin (1999) failed to match the power of his early gangsta-rap.

After a long hiatus, he returned with Gangsta Rap (2006). Something from Nothing (2012). Body Count returned with Murder 4 Hire (2006), Manslaughter (2014), Bloodlust (2017), Carnivore (2020) and Merciless (2024).

He had been distracted by cinema and television, and by marriage (2002). He even co-directed a documentary,