Beef follow up: Maybe Soulja Boy was right
by Josh Kimball
In this week’s (September 1) New Yorker, artist Kehinde Wiley comments that Ice-T was the most difficult subject he ever had sit for him. “He had the most shocking level of ego and excess. It was me inviting these celebrities to be who they wanted to be, and he goes straight for a portrait of Napoleon. He was, like, ‘If anyone deserves to be Napoleon, it’s me. I’m the father of gangster rap.’ So he crowned himself.”
Also, here is a slide show of Mr. Wiley’s work, though it does not include his painting of Ice-T.
I’d expect nothing less of Ice-T. He’s recognized as the father of gangsta rap. It’s no surprise then, that both Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z have harkened back to Ice-T with Snoop alluding to Ice with his “six in the morning” line and Jay with 99 Problems. He has an ego, but that’s the only way to get ahead in the rap biz.