Squeeze the Trigger

One of the earliest West Coast gangsta rap tracks, "Squeeze The Trigger" finds Ice-T blasting away at cops and privileged politicians who will never understand the poor, but blame them for society's ills. Ice-T wasn't some teenager speaking his truth; he was nearly 30 years old when he released this track, and had served four years in the US Army. He saw a market for this kind of song, and filled it on his first album, the aptly titled Rhyme Pays. He was never in a gang, but he did grow up in rough section of Los Angeles and ran in those circles. His talent was in narrating the stories surrounding the culture.

There are gun references all over this track, but no details on what he's shooting at. This wasn't the case four years later with "Cop Killer," which Ice-T released with his metal group, Body Count. In that song, the target is clear, which didn't sit well with police groups and conservative politicians. Ice-T spent a lot of time explaining that just because he's rapping bout crime, it doesn't mean he's or condoning it.

Ice-T wrote this with his producer, Afrika Islam, who gave it a techno sound. Islam was part of Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation, and was influenced by the "Planet Rock" DJ.