Tracy attended Palms Junior High, which was predominately made up of white students, and included black students bused in from South Central.[5] After graduating, he attended Crenshaw High School, which was almost entirely made up of black students.[5][7] Marrow stood out from most of his friends because he did not drink alcohol, smoke tobacco or use drugs, as a result of his survival instincts.[8] During high school, gangs began to intensify in the Los Angeles school system. Students who belonged to the Bloods and Crips gangs attended Crenshaw, and fought in the school's halls.[5] Tracy aligned with the Crips,[5] and began reading the novels of Iceberg Slim, which he memorized and recited to his friends, who enjoyed hearing the excerpts and told him, "Yo, kick some more of that shit by Ice, T,"[8] and the handle stuck. Marrow and other Crips wrote and performed "Crip Rhymes", long before the advent of hip hop and recorded rapping.[9]
At the age of 17, Tracy received the Social Security death benefit money previously in the care of his aunt for the death of his father to rent an apartment for $90 a month.[8] Marrow sold cannabis and stole car stereos for money, but was not making enough money to support his girlfriend and daughter, leading him to join the United States Army for the financial benefits; he served for four years in the 25th Infantry.[8][10] His commanding officer ordered Marrow to lead a group of soldiers to steal some supplies for him. Marrow and the group were jailed for the theft of an infantry rug.[8] While awaiting trial, he received a $2,500 bonus check, and decided to escape from the jail and desert his Army duties, returning a month later after the rug had been returned.[8] He received an Article 15 non-judicial punishment, and completed Advanced Infantry Training.[8]
Marrow became interested in hip hop music while serving in the Army. During this period, he heard Sugar Hill Gang's newly-released single "Rapper's Delight", which inspired him to perform his own raps over the instrumentals of this and other early hip hop records, but the music did not fit to his lyrics or form of delivery, leading Marrow to try to develop his skills as a rapper.[9]
As a squad leader at Schofield Barracks, Marrow met a real-life pimp named Mac in Hawaii, where prostitution was not heavily prosecuted, due to the high level of visits from soldiers during their weekends, as well as tourists, in order to keep the level of violence low.[8] Mac admired that Marrow could quote Iceberg Slim, and taught Marrow how to pimp.[8] Marrow was also able to purchase stereo equipment cheaply in Hawaii, including two Technics turntables, a mixer, and large speakers, and began to learn turntablism and rapping.[9]
Towards the end of his time in the Army, Marrow learned from his commanding officer that he could receive an honorable discharge and leave the Army early because he was a single father, and left four months ahead of schedule.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice-T
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