Q&A: Ice-T on Pimping and the Pope

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.

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