Cop Killer (song)

"Cop Killer"
Single by Body Count
from the album Body Count
Released1992 (1992)[1]
Recorded1991
Genre
Length4:08
Label
Composer(s)Ernie C
Lyricist(s)Ice-T
Producer(s)
  • Ice-T
  • Ernie C
Body Count singles chronology
"There Goes the Neighborhood"
(1992)
"Cop Killer"
(1992)
"Hey Joe"
(1993)
Audio sample

"Cop Killer" is a song by American heavy metal band Body Count. Released on the group's 1992 self-titled debut album, the song was written two years earlier, and was partially influenced by "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads.[5]

The song's lyrics about "cop killing" was criticized by then-President of the United States George H. W. Bush,[6] as well as Vice President Dan Quayle.[6] Ice-T has referred to it as a "protest record".[7] Ice-T eventually recalled the album and re-released it without the inclusion of the song.[1]

  1. ^ a b Marrow, Tracy; Century, Douglas (2011). "Freedom of Speech". Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption—from South Central to Hollywood. Random House. pp. 127–140. ISBN 978-0-345-52328-0.
  2. ^ Patrin, Nate (2020-06-09). Bring That Beat Back: How Sampling Built Hip-Hop. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-1-4529-6380-8. 'Cop Killer' and the Body Count album were Ice-T's foray into crossover thrash metal
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Body Count review". AllMusic. Retrieved October 20, 2007.
  4. ^ Popenoe, David (1995). Sociology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice Hall. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-13-101163-2.
  5. ^ "Body Count". Escapi Music Group. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Osgerby, Bill (2004). Youth Media. Routledge. pp. 68–70. ISBN 0-415-23808-0.
  7. ^ Ice T; Sigmund, Heidi (1994). The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck?. Pan Books. ISBN 0-330-33629-0.