The game has changed in hip hop as our social media-driven culture has not only shifted how fans receive music, but how artists portray themselves in order to gain fans. Sometimes, rappers act wild or purposefully embroil themselves in controversies in an effort to go viral and be talked about in the media, but according to Ice-T, that's setting them up for trouble.
In an interview with Chuck Creekmur, Ice-T talked about how social media is making things worse, not better, for certain artists. "You get on Instagram and you holding money, you puttin' this out there without any regards to the crimes you're committing, the dry-snitching you're doing on yourself," he said. "Rule one: The number one tool of law enforcement is social media. So, we didn't have social media. I got years of my life that aren't photographed because at the time we didn't want pictures. We're breaking the law. I don't want no motherf*cking picture. What are you doing? It's a new game."
"The gangster don't look the same, but these kids are still catching murders," he continued. "They're going to jail left and right. I'm like, 'Yo, man. Pump your breaks. Don't let the image of being this wild motherf*cker to sell records put you in prison." Ice T shared that from the inception of his career, he's maintained that if he has to act wild to sell records, then the rap game isn't for him. "I'm not finna go to prison. I'm hustlin' backwards. I'm trying to get out of the game so I'm over here on my best behavior."
Check out what else Ice-T said about trying to keep Tupac Shakur from being reckless as the late rapper blurred the line between entertainment and real gang-banging, below.
