Editing Body Count (band) (section)

===Pre-formation (1990–1991)===
[[Ice-T]]'s interest in heavy metal stemmed from sharing a room with his cousin Earl, who was a fan of rock music and only listened to the local rock stations. Ice-T particularly enjoyed heavy metal, citing [[Edgar Winter]], [[Led Zeppelin]] and [[Black Sabbath]] as his favorite bands.<ref name=IceCentury-127/> Ice-T attended [[Crenshaw High School]], where a few classmates shared his interest in the genre, including musicians [[Ernie C]], D-Roc the Executioner, [[Beatmaster V]], and [[Mooseman]]. Ice-T began a solo career as a rapper, and later decided to form Body Count with these friends.<ref name=IceCentury-127/><ref name="AllMusic">{{Cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|title=Body Count {{!}} Biography & History|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/body-count-mn0000078191/biography|access-date=March 14, 2021|website=[[AllMusic]]|language=en}}</ref> Explaining the motivation behind the name, Ice-T later said:

<blockquote>"Body Count is an all-out metal group. We've got the stage props and everything and we're coming in for the kill. That's what the title Body Count means. In Los Angeles on a Sunday night the lady comes on the news and says "13 people killed in gang warfare this weekend, now sports." To me being a black man in Los Angeles make me just a statistic, another one in the body count.<ref name="Convulsion zine">{{cite magazine |first=Jon |last=Bains |title=Ice (Motherfuckin') T part 1 |date=October 1991 |magazine=Convulsion |location=Edinburgh |url=https://bak.spc.org/obsolete/convulsion/interviews/convulse/1.3.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250427143836/https://bak.spc.org/obsolete/convulsion/interviews/convulse/1.3.html |archive-date=2025-04-27 |access-date=2025-04-27}}</ref></blockquote>

The earliest formation of Body Count was in 1989 when Ice-T had Ernie C, Mooseman, and Beatmaster V participated in live instrumentation on Ice-T's album [[The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say!]]. They did live instrumentation on the tracks The Girl Tried To Kill Me, Hit The Deck, and [[What Ya Wanna Do|What Ya Wanna Do?]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://metalstorm.net/bands/biography.php?band_id=4990&bandname=Body+Count|title=Body Count - Biography|website=Metalstorm.net|access-date=March 30, 2025}}</ref>

Ice-T co-wrote the band's music and lyrics with lead guitarist Ernie C, and took on the duties of lead vocalist, even though he felt that he did not have a great singing voice.<ref name="IceOpinion">{{cite book |author1=Ice T |last2=Sigmund |first2=Heidi |title=The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a Fuck? |year=1994 |publisher=Pan Books |isbn=0-330-33629-0 |pages=99–101; 166–180 }}</ref> The original line-up consisted of D-Roc on rhythm guitar, Beatmaster V on drums and Mooseman on bass.