Ice T Talks new Doc 'Planet Rock' and Why Hip-Hop Isn't Edgy

The rap vet understands older artists 'can't make records now'

Since it's inception, hip-hop has had a tumultuous, if not co-dependent relationship with illegal drugs. During it's golden era, rappers expressed disdain for the crack epidemic that ravaged the black community.   In the new VH1 documentary, “Planet Rock: The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation” the connections between crack and hip hop are revealed. The documentary explores how the drug changed America politically and culturally. Executive producer and narrator Ice-T says the piece is completely "100 [%]" accurate. 

"It's the truth. It's a better look at that time, that era, what was really going on," says the gangsta rap legend and TV actor. "Hopefully it'll open somebody's eyes."

"Planet Rock" gives first-person accounts of four famous drug dealers-turned-rappers. Azie Faison, Jr. is one of those rappers, who started his short lived rap career with an underground hip-hop group MobStyle.

"These dudes that rapping in the streets now, you have to go underground to hear their music," Fasion told Loop 21. "And these guys you hear every day--what you call primetime--it seems more like corporate rap. They're saying what the rich people want them to say. ...It's like the streets and the Sesame Streets."

Ice T echoes his disenchantment with the current state of hip hop.

"We can't make records now because we're not their age. We're the age of their parents. So kids don't want to listen to their parents so we accept that. How could KRS One be so militant at our age? Where are those kids, where are those kids who are going to come out and push the envelope?"

Ice T has long grown weary of the music that earned him a Grammy Award and top-charting albums on Billboard. In 2008 he picked a fight with Soulja Boy, saying his music was "killing hip hop" and his hit single "Crank That" was "garbage." 

"I miss the edgy music, that's all I'm saying," says Ice before a preview audience of the film. "And saying you sell drugs, that's not edgy. Let's talk about the issues."

“Planet Rock: The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation” premieres Sunday, September 18 at 10 p.m. ET on VH1.