Ice-T’s thrash metal band Body Count, touching off a powder keg of controversy in 1992 with the incendiary song “Cop Killer,” found themselves at the center of a cultural maelstrom, eliciting protests from politicians and conservative groups. Fans and free speech advocates rallied around them, lauding the band’s uncensored social commentary.

Looking back on the more than 20 years that have passed since Charlton Heston recited the lyrics to the song “KKK Bitch” at a Time/Warner shareholders meeting in an effort to get the corporation to drop the band, singer Ice-T remains steadfastly defiant when defending both his own artistic integrity and that of his musical peers.

“Don’t come to metal or hardcore rap looking for political correctness, go buy a Macklemore album if that’s what the fuck you want,” says Ice-T, during a phone interview from New York.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Ice-T was raised by an aunt after his parents died when he was young; there, he was exposed to the rise of gangs in South Central and an early life of crime before moving on and joining the army for several years.

After his stint in the military, Ice-T got his start in the world of underground gangsta rap in L.A. where his work help paved the way for artists such as N.W.A. and Snoop Dogg. His 1987 debut album Rhyme Pays was the first hip-hop record to garner the forerunner to the infamous “Parental Advisory” sticker—a label that has stuck with the rapper and vocalist throughout his career.

When the tsunami of media attention over “Cop Killer” hit, Ice-T was ready—in August of 1992 he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone wearing a police uniform. Giving an in-depth interview to the magazine, he explained that the song did not condone or glorify killing cops; it was written from the perspective of a character protesting police brutality.

In the two decades that have since passed, Ice-T’s acting career has become much more prominent in mainstream pop culture, with his long-running stint on NBC’s Law and Order: Special Victims Unit—as a police detective—earning him multiple accolades. The success of that part of his artistic output has presented an interesting conundrum; many fans of his television work may not know about his music.

“I’ve been on Law and Order for 16 years, so if you’re 18, you were 2 when I went on the show,” Ice-T says. “They don’t have a reference point to me—but I just want them to see some crazy black man jumping around on stage and screaming and scaring the shit out of ‘em!”

Those youngsters will have a chance to do just that this summer, as Body Count recently released Manslaughter (Sumerian Records)—their first new album in eight years and fifth overall—and will be touring with the Mayhem Festival, returning to Shoreline on July 6.

While the group had to endure a series of hardships that would have likely derailed other acts—including the deaths of three members—Ice-T and company have returned true to form with the new collection.

“Beatmaster V, our drummer from the first record, died of Leukemia,” Ice-T says. “Mooseman, our first bass player, got killed in a drive-by shooting in his old neighborhood. D-Roc died recently from cancer. We’ve had our tragedies, and every time that would happen, that would throw the band off, the band would be in mourning, and ask, ‘Do we want to make another record? Do we want to call it a day?’”

That realm of live performance is one that Ice-T says he is glad to be returning to, for both the immediate connection with the audience and being able to use his sense of humor to push people’s buttons.

“Body Count is grindhouse, it’s hyper-violent, hyper-sexual, over the top, it’s funny,” he says. “It’s so outrageous, you gotta laugh. But it’s making a point, so we have to be intense like that. If you go to metal shows, you know that’s the world of extremities, so you’ve gotta go that hard, and the girls love it.”

And if all of the fans of his acting career don’t come along for the return to his musical side, Ice-T is perfectly fine with that.

“One guy told me, ‘I played “Talk Shit, Get Shot” for my mother, who loves you on SVU—she didn’t know if she liked it.’ I was like, ‘That’s fucking great! Your mother ain’t supposed to like this shit!’”

Body Count
Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival
July 6, 1pm
$31.50-$85.50
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View
www.livenation.com

The Mayhem Festival roared into Shoreline Amphitheatre on Sunday with a full day of metal and hardcore, headlined by Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Mastadon and more.

Metro photographer Geoffrey Smith II hit the pit for some shots.

The South Bay’s summer music lineup heats up this week with the arrival of the interesting mix of one of pop music’s biggest divas, tripped-out R&B and eardrum-blasting metal.

June 26: Erykah Badu at Mountain Winery
Inspired by hip hop, R&B and jazz, iconoclast Erykah Badu helped launch the neo-soul movement with her debut in 1997. The eccentric balladeer, with her Billie Holiday-textured voice and self-chosen surname inspired by her favorite scatting sound, has been redefining modern soul and her image ever since.

The four-time Grammy award-winner comes to the Mountain Winery in Saratoga this month just after a critically acclaimed collaboration with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and just before heading to SoCal to perform at BET Experience at L.A. Live.

Since releasing her fifth studio album, New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh), a couple years ago, the Dallas native has teamed up with other artists, including Flying Lotus, Rocketjuice and the Moon, Bonobo and Tyler the Creator for collaborations.

Judging by reviews from her shows earlier this spring, expect a lot of throwback Badu favorites, like “Tyrone,” and “On and On,” but also freestyling and psychedelic jams with her electro-funk band the Cannabinoids.

June 30: Mayhem Festival at Shoreline Amphitheatre
A legion of metalheads will flock to the Shoreline for the second stop of the Mayhem Festival 2013, a hard-and-heavy rock event whose main draws this year include Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Mastadon and Amon Amarth.

Rob Zombie is the biggest draw this year, riding the high from the April debut of his fifth solo studio album, “Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor,” which landed at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 albums chart the first week of it’s release.

Event sponsor Rockstar energy drink will fuel up the crowd for a long day of headbanging by passing out free samples of the caffeine soda while setting up meet-and-greets with some of the 18-band lineup, which also includes Children of Bodom, Shores of Acheron, Attika 7 and Thrown Into Exile.

June 2: Beyonce at HP Pavilion
After a jaunt across Europe where she stunned the world with sequin-splashed golden-nippled costumes and explosive pyrotechnics, Queen Bey comes full circle back to Cali this summer to kick off the North American part of The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. Beyonce touches down at San Jose’s HP Pavilion July 2–an already sold-out show–in her fourth global concert tour.

Critics have praised the Carter show for its mash-up of old-world grandiloquence (ermine-trimmed capes, caged skirts and other Louis XVI-style attire), Broadway-style dance numbers, big-budget special effects and a whole lot of ass shaking. All the focus on areola-accentuating get-ups and elaborate fireworks displays has overshadowed any mention of the pop queen’s voice, a less-miasmic but no less commanding counterpart to a lot of leading R&B divas.

A second Beyoncé show was scheduled at HP Pavilion for December 2 to meet demand. Tickets go on sale July 1 at 10am.

This year’s Mayhem Festival was different. It felt different. Gone was the dread of attending a faceless, corporate-sponsored event. As soon as I entered, I felt at ease. Why? Because I didn’t feel like a chump. Let’s face it, most of the time, festivals like this leave you drowned in a sea of bands you couldn’t care less about. With a lineup that included true metal legends like Slayer, Motorhead and Anthrax, that wasn’t the case Sunday.

Overall, the biggest stroke of genius was the traveling keg. Amongst the crowd of concert goers were wheeled carts with a kegs in them, filled with ice. A tall flag with the type of beer they were serving stuck up out of the back of the carts, so all you had to do was look for the flag. It was like a beer beacon.

Musically, there were some parallels to last year’s Mayhem Fest. Instead of questioning why Testament wasn’t on the main stage, the question was why wasn’t Anthrax on the main stage? No matter, though. Anthrax came out with more energy than guys half their age.  Running amuck and sounding incredible, Anthrax’s showmanship was unmatched that evening.

As the sun set, Motorhead took the main stage. Subtle yet effective, Lemmy is the epitome of cool. He doesn’t even have to try. He just is. Dirty, gritty and louder than a 747, Lemmy made it clear that night: “We are Motorhead, and we play rock and roll!” Who are any of us to disagree?

The power of Satan took over as soon as Slayer took the stage. As Scott Ian put it: “Slayer is the music you’re going to hear when you go to Hell.” They had their Marshall stacks set up to look like two upside down crosses –-with fire shooting out of them. They set a standard that night, making me feel sorry for whoever had to follow them.

Which brings us to Slipknot.

I’ve always respected Mick Thomson’s guitar work. The guy shreds, plain and simple. There’s also no denying Slipknot’s influence and ability to get the crowd moving. But headlining? Over bands that have paved the way for them? I don’t get it. There’s no accounting for taste, so take their music with a grain of salt. But they never fail to put on a good show, whether you like their music or not.

At concerts like this, it’s always a t-shirt contest. Who has the most obscure shirt from a band you’ve never heard of? Well, I guarantee I had a shirt no one was wearing: Mr. Bungle. Last year I wore an Eyesores shirt. So, I’m still the undisputed Mayhem t-shirt champion, two years running. 

Matt Pike (right) of High on Fire has checked into rehab.

As part of Sleep, Pike set the bar for stoner rock with hallucinogenic doom metal so sludgy it sometimes out-Sabbathed Sabbath. After their break-up in the ’90s and throughout their sporadic reunions, they’ve become almost more a legend than a band. That legend continues to grow, thanks to war stories like the time in 1995 that record execs refused to release their third album, Dopesmoker, because it was one hour-long song. Under the pressure of endless label blowback, the band split into Om and High on Fire.

Just last week, Sleep headlined at the Scion A/V Rock Fest in Tampa, where cake was brought onstage at the end of the set to celebrate Pike’s birthday.

It’s now been 14 years since Pike formed High on Fire in Oakland. They just released their latest album, De Vermis Mysteriis, in spring. That it debuted at #61 on the Billboard charts despite the fact that HOF’s music is even harder than Sleep’s ever was is a testament to the fact that it is also hookier and simply undeniable. What Pike has created with the band represents nothing less than the future of metal.

The band’s other two members, drummer Des Kensel and bassist Jeff Matz, released a statement saying “High on Fire would like to thank everyone involved with the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival for the opportunity to be a part of this year’s tour. We regretfully will have to bow out as our friend and bandmate begins his recovery, but very much appreciate having been asked to be a part of this summer’s festival run.”

Summer means big music festivals, and this year the South Bay has more than ever. Here are six covering genres from rock to hip-hop, metal, blues and more (go here for a rundown of this summer’s jazz events).

I Love This City
Fri-Sat, May 25-26; Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View
Things got a bit confusing when the I Love This City festival moved from AT&T Park in San Francisco to Shoreline in Mountain View. Aside from the now unclear question of what city is getting the love from this new EDM festival, there was some lineup shuffling as well. It worked out well for ravers, especially on Friday, where Dutch DJ Afrojack and Swedish House Mafia head Sebastian Ingrosso were added to the lineup when the festival moved. Friday also features James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, as well as Duck Sauce, Steve Aoki, Datsik, the Crystal Method, Cut Chemist, Dirtyphonics, Holy Ghost!, AraabMuzik, Borgore, Cookie Monsta and more. Saturday’s bill is topped by Tiesto, David Guetta and Laidback Luke. Doctor P., Excision, Feed Me, Apparat, Kill the Noise, Felix Cartal, Jaguar Skills, Miles the DJ and others will also perform. Festival hours have been extended until 11:30pm each night thanks to the move. There will be three stages, and the festival is now open to ages 16 and over. Anyone who bought a ticket for the festival while it was still at AT&T will receive a special wristband that gets them into reserved seating, and buses will carry earlier ticketholders in SF from The Lot at AT&T to Shoreline and back both days.

BFD
June 2; Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View
Whoever the headliners are from year to year, most of BFD’s coolest offerings are to be found in the Subsonic Tent. This year, Oakland’s Wallpaper play there, as well as San Francisco’s budding girl rap star K. Flay, who killed last year on the local stage. Subsonic Tent mainstays the Limousines of San Jose will do something slightly different this summer, spinning a DJ set. Other tent acts include Knife Party, Dragonette, and AmpLive of the Oakland duo Zion I performing with Eligh. The headliners this year are mostly ’90s soldiers like Jane’s Addiction, Garbage and Cake. However, there is also the Naked and the Famous, who formed in 2008. Sounding eerily like Passion Pit’s long-lost twin band, they made the alt-radio Top 10 in 2010 with “Young Blood.” Fellow indie rockers Silversun Pickups will release their new album, Neck of the Woods, next month. On the Soundcheck Local Band Stage this year are two South Bay bands, the Holdup and Young Science.

Reigning biggest metal tour the Rockstar Mayhem Festival has announced its line-up for this year, which features headliners Slipknot and Slayer, along with Anthrax, the Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying, High on Fire and Whitechapel. The 26-date tour begins on June 30 and comes to Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View the next day, July 1.

Another as-yet-unrevealed band referred to so far only as a “major special guest” will be announced on March 5. Tickets go on sale April 6.

Slayer and Anthrax have joined up several times over the last couple of years for the historic “Big 4” shows that saw them touring with Metallica and Megadeth, uniting the top thrash bands for the first time. This tour will be different, as Slayer will be on the main stage, while Anthrax will be headlining the secondary Jagermeister stage, which is getting a huge upgrade.

Another interesting addition is High on Fire, the offshoot of legendary San Jose stoner-metal band Sleep. Their 2010 album Snakes for the Divine was the best record of frontman Matt Pike’s career, and may finally make him more famous for the albums he did finish than the ones he didn’t.