Rapper Makes The Ultimate Comeback
By Curtis Ross Of The Tampa Tribune
Published: Apr 1, 2005
With three top 5 singles, several major endorsement deals and the year's most hotly anticipated album due this month, Ice Cold is hip hop's newest phenomenon - all without rapping a single syllable.
In fact, I.C. is unlikely ever to bust a rhyme, thanks to the 12 caps busted into his torso which took his life the day he was discovered by rapper The Game.
The Game, whose debut, ``The Documentary,'' drew on his drug-dealing past and his near fatal shooting, was scouting Los Angeles-area emergency rooms in February for new rap prospects when Ice Cold was brought in after being ambushed by rival crack dealers.
``Even though he was in and out of consciousness, we really connected,'' The Game said. ``As soon as I saw him flat line, I knew I was in the presence of a true O.D.G.,'' or original dead gangsta.
``I mean, sure, 50 Cent and I dealt drugs and got shot, but Ice Cold really took it to the next level by dying,'' The Game continued. ``This gives him the true street knowledge that no living, breathing rapper could ever hope to understand.'
Executive produced by Dr. Dre with The Game, ``Six Feet Under and Rising'' features individual tracks produced by 50 Cent, Eminem, Kanye West and a host of others. Guest appearances by popular hip-hop and R&B artists will cover the vocals while a pack of ghost writers, The No-Pulse Posse, wrote the rhymes based on their assumptions about Ice Cold's past.
``Sure, we never knew the G,'' Posse leader A.T.C. (Any Thang 4 Ca$h) said, ``but that just gives us more freedom to create a true street legend. We're sure he would have wanted it that way.''
The rapper's remains will be preserved using state-of-the- art cryogenics, with detailing by Jacob the Jeweler.
``This is the challenge I've been looking for,'' Jacob said. ``Usually, all I have to work with is the neck, the wrist and the ears. Cold will be the first rapper I've iced fully, from head to toe.''
Calvin Klein has featured Ice Cold in print ads for its Eternity for Men cologne, although a spokesman for the company said plans to star the rapper in television spots were dropped after his immobility had proved ``problematic.''
Singles released prior to the album include ``No. 1 Wit 12 Bullets,'' ``Nekro Feelz Yuh'' (with Lil' Kim) and ``Luv Nevah Diez (But I Did)'' with Ashanti.
Meanwhile, the Lil Jon remix of ``Krunk in da Koffin'' is at No. 1 on the dance charts.
Reporter Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568.
By Curtis Ross Of The Tampa Tribune
Published: Apr 1, 2005
With three top 5 singles, several major endorsement deals and the year's most hotly anticipated album due this month, Ice Cold is hip hop's newest phenomenon - all without rapping a single syllable.
In fact, I.C. is unlikely ever to bust a rhyme, thanks to the 12 caps busted into his torso which took his life the day he was discovered by rapper The Game.
The Game, whose debut, ``The Documentary,'' drew on his drug-dealing past and his near fatal shooting, was scouting Los Angeles-area emergency rooms in February for new rap prospects when Ice Cold was brought in after being ambushed by rival crack dealers.
``Even though he was in and out of consciousness, we really connected,'' The Game said. ``As soon as I saw him flat line, I knew I was in the presence of a true O.D.G.,'' or original dead gangsta.
``I mean, sure, 50 Cent and I dealt drugs and got shot, but Ice Cold really took it to the next level by dying,'' The Game continued. ``This gives him the true street knowledge that no living, breathing rapper could ever hope to understand.'
Executive produced by Dr. Dre with The Game, ``Six Feet Under and Rising'' features individual tracks produced by 50 Cent, Eminem, Kanye West and a host of others. Guest appearances by popular hip-hop and R&B artists will cover the vocals while a pack of ghost writers, The No-Pulse Posse, wrote the rhymes based on their assumptions about Ice Cold's past.
``Sure, we never knew the G,'' Posse leader A.T.C. (Any Thang 4 Ca$h) said, ``but that just gives us more freedom to create a true street legend. We're sure he would have wanted it that way.''
The rapper's remains will be preserved using state-of-the- art cryogenics, with detailing by Jacob the Jeweler.
``This is the challenge I've been looking for,'' Jacob said. ``Usually, all I have to work with is the neck, the wrist and the ears. Cold will be the first rapper I've iced fully, from head to toe.''
Calvin Klein has featured Ice Cold in print ads for its Eternity for Men cologne, although a spokesman for the company said plans to star the rapper in television spots were dropped after his immobility had proved ``problematic.''
Singles released prior to the album include ``No. 1 Wit 12 Bullets,'' ``Nekro Feelz Yuh'' (with Lil' Kim) and ``Luv Nevah Diez (But I Did)'' with Ashanti.
Meanwhile, the Lil Jon remix of ``Krunk in da Koffin'' is at No. 1 on the dance charts.
Reporter Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568.