There wasn’t much in the way of competition, but Ice-T’s making sure no gangsta rapper has ever done more to promote the literary world than him. Not only is he planning a documentary about Iceberg Slim, whose memoirs and novels inspired his own moniker, the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star will perform Langston Hughes’ epic “Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz” alongside the McCurdy/Wright Jazz Quartet and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Has there ever been a notorious, transgessive figure in pop music that did not eventually become a respected patron of the fine arts? (Not sure if G.G. Allin counts.)
