Ice-T, the O.G. O.G., Is Playing a Small Show in San Francisco

Ice-T has been a television star for so long that his gangsta rap pedigree is nearly buried in the cultural imagination. Two entire generations know him as the jelly donut–loving Sergeant Fin on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a role he’s played for 27 years.

But 40 years ago, inspired by songs like Toddy Tee’s “Batterram” and Schoolly D’s “P.S.K. What Does It Mean?,” Ice-T sat down with an 808 drum machine and a pen. What resulted is one of the defining gangsta narratives, “6 in the Mornin’,” a tour de force of police brutality, the criminal justice system, freeway pursuits, the drug trade and street justice. It’s basically Homer’s Odyssey for 1980s street rap.

Ice-T doesn’t often play clubs anymore, but on Friday, he drops into the 470-capacity Great American Music Hall for a rare small show in San Francisco. This ain’t no SVU watch party — Ice-T is joined Friday by his original DJ from the 1980s, DJ Evil E, and show opener Mac Mall, who recorded the street classic Illegal Business in Vallejo at age 15.

Expect a setlist for the O.G.s, in other words — the heads who still remember when Ice-T brought the term “O.G.” into the wider lexicon. Or when he incurred the condemnation of President George H. W. Bush over the song “Cop Killer.” Or when he fronted one of the earliest rap-metal crossover groups. His accolades, like the lyrics to “6 in the Mornin’,” just go on and on and on. On Friday in San Francisco, expect his rhymes to do the same.

Ice-T performs Friday, June 27, at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco with DJ Evil E and Mac Mall. Details here.