Megadeth singer Dave Mustaine recently looked back on his friendship with rapper Ice-T, which has endured for more than 30 years. The Body Count frontman is featured on the track “Night Ranger,” off Megadeth’s upcoming 16th album, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead, out Sept. 2.
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In a recent interview, Ice-T remembered what made him what to meet Mustaine, who also appeared on The Body Count’s song “Civil War,” off the group’s 2017 album Bloodlust.
“I was aware of Megadeth, and my attention was brought to Dave Mustaine because there was some magazine that asked his favorite five albums of the year, and he said ‘O.G.’ [‘Original Gangster’ 1991],” said Ice-T. “That was odd, coming from the leader of a heavy metal act, so from that moment, I said, ‘I gotta meet this guy.’ And they created a meeting between me and him, and I met him at a record label someplace in Hollywood.”
Mustaine respected the way Ice-T has made his way, and on his own terms, in the music industry throughout his career. “I like Ice a lot,” said Mustaine. “I really admire what he’s done. He’s a talented person. The opportunities he was presented with, he made them work for him. He did what a lot of the artists from the cities, deep down in the cities, would do. He talked about the blight and the hardships and how they were going to make it, and that determination is always a great motivator, whether you’re white or black. Listening to the music he makes, it’s still motivational.”
The Megadeth frontman added that his favorite lyric he ever heard Ice-T sing was from the 1989 song “The Iceberg” (off T’s third solo album Iceberg/Freedom of Speech… Just Watch What You Say!): They can’t mess with me cause I’m too smart for them out there, you know what I’m sayin’? / Fully strapped, always packed / Go to the library and get some more ammo. “That’s a great line, man,” said Mustaine.
The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead features 12 new tracks and will be released on multiple formats, including CD, vinyl, and cassette, as well as digitally, in addition to a limited deluxe edition 2-LP album on black vinyl and housed in a numbered gatefold jacket with a lyrics/credits insert, a vinyl lithograph and a bonus 7″ featuring “We’ll Be Back” and the unreleased, live B-side “The Conjuring.”
“We just have a friendship that’s based on us being outspoken in our genre, and I think he’s done it with savoir-faire, and he’s really made a name for himself and opened a lot of doors for young black artists and actors,” said Mustaine. “I love that.”
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Photo: Courtesy of Gibson
