Ice-T calls David Bowie a “real one” as viral MTV clip resurfaces

Ice-T has called David Bowie “a real one” after a viral MTV clip of the star did the rounds online again.

The video is taken from a 1983 interview with MTV in which Bowie calls out MTV for the lack of Black artists on its playlist.

When the interviewer tried to reason that the station had to “play the music that we think the entire country is gonna like” and questioned what an artist like The Isley Brothers means to a 17-year-old. “I tell what an artist like The Isley Brothers or Marvin Gaye means to a Black 17-year-old,” Bowie countered. “And surely he’s part of America?”

Ice-T shared a tweet containing the video from former basketball player Rex Chapman, captioning the retweet: “A lotta people may NOT know that David Bowie put MTV on blast back in the day for NOT playin Black artists.. He side stepped the double talk… Bowie was a REAL ONE.”

In other Bowie news, the late rock icon will be celebrated in January 2022 at London’s BFI Southbank cinema with an inaugural season dedicated to his film works. Bowie: Starman And The Silver Screen will run all month and will coincide with what would have been the star’s 75th birthday (January 8).

Among the programming will be screenings of feature films, documentaries and television appearances featuring Bowie, including The Man Who Fell To Earth, Labyrinth, Bowie At Glastonbury 2000 and more.

Ice-T, meanwhile, put his support behind the idea of creating a retirement fund for ageing rappers last year, which was initially brainstormed by Swizz Beats.

The latter figure had suggested setting up a programme to support rappers in need of financial assistance when they retire, noting elder members of the hip-hop community might not be as financially stable as the younger generations.