ES: I believe you! If I heard a 15-year-old boy say any of this, it would blow my mind.
IT: Thank you. This is the kind of stuff I was saying to girls. And I’m not telling them that it comes from a book. I’m just talking it.
ES: You eventually named yourself after Iceberg, right?
IT: Yeah. My name, my real name, is Tracy. I always thought I was like a boy named Sue. So I made my friends call me “Tray.” And when I started saying Iceberg lines, then the guys started saying, “Tell us some more of that Ice stuff, T.” See what I mean?
ES: Oh wow.
IT: That’s where Ice-T came from.
ES: It’s like a superhero origin story.
IT: Yeah, something like that. [Laughs.]
ES: Iceberg Slim got his name because someone shot at him and the bullet went through his hat and he didn’t react. Could you be that cool?
IT: Yeah. I’m pretty cool. I’ve got a decent cool level going. Yeah.
ES: What’s the secret?
IT: Being cool is when you win, you don’t get too happy, and when you lose, you don’t get too mad.