In a year when hip-hop was expected to dominate the Grammy Awards, a veteran of the genre shook up the ceremony's afternoon pre-telecast with a blistering heavy metal performance.
For the rendition of "Black Hoodie," Ice-T reverted to his antagonistic roots in Body Count, one of L.A.'s formative and most progressive metal bands, taunting police with a song that was nominated for best metal performance.
The churning, urgent original was an unexpected high point in the genre at the Grammys, where rock and roll is still fighting for relevance in a dominant year for hip-hop. Yet "Black Hoodie" zeroed in on police brutality and vulnerability as well as any punk song.
Ice-T deserved his gramophone for making a strong effort to bring these dormant issues back into the rock and roll spotlight during the Grammys this year, where everyone will be political as long as it's salient to their streaming career. Good on him for trying to raise the bar early.
