Body Count

Already established as one of rap's hardest emcees, the unlikelihood of Ice-T fronting a heavy metal group launched a hurricane of publicity when he arrived in the early '90s with the thrash metal/gangsta rap fusion of Body Count. Further controversy over the band's anti-police song "Cop Killer" led to more press and an ultimate parting of ways with their first label, but the band would soldier on for decades to come. They stuck with only minor variations of their aggressive rap-metal sound as the years went on, applying their anti-authority vitriol to the news of the day on albums like 2017's Bloodlust and 2024's Merciless.