Maps of Music

Home Invasion (1993)

Where the lyrics of Home Invasion take you, and where it was really made.

Sire/Warner Bros. refused to release the album with its original artwork, so Ice-T planned an all-black cover titled The Black Album before moving the record to Priority Records.

Key places

Conway Recording Studios, Hollywood (1993)

Recording site Conway Recording Studios — Wikipedia lists Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood as a recording location for Home Invasion. The pin uses the studio's own coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Syndicate West, Los Angeles (1993)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Wikipedia lists Syndicate West in Los Angeles as a recording location for Home Invasion. Only city-center coordinates are available, so the pin marks the city, not a studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Home Invasion: fifth studio album by American rapper Ice-T
• Released 23 March 1993 via Rhyme $yndicate/Priority Records
• Originally set for 1992 under the Sire/Warner Bros. Records deal
• Ice-T's own Rhyme $yndicate label, with full control of the content
• Credited to Rhyme Syndicate Records Ltd (P) 1993

Background

• First album Ice-T released after the controversy over the Body Count song 'Cop Killer'
• Sire/Warner Bros. backed freedom of expression during the controversy, though some inside Time Warner preferred a more pragmatic policy
• Original release date was 15 November 1992
• The Rodney King riots were still fresh, an election was under way, and politically-minded releases by 2Pac, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre were causing controversy
• Ice-T postponed the album and removed 'Ricochet', which had already appeared on the soundtrack of the film of the same name
• Release moved to 14 February 1993
• Sire/Warner Bros. refused to release the album with its current artwork
• Ice-T first agreed to an all-black cover and the title The Black Album
• He later saw that his future output would be constantly monitored and censored, so he left the label amicably
• He signed a distribution deal with Priority Records, which released the album with the originally intended artwork
• The postponement led to tracks being altered to keep the topics up to date

Recording

• Engineer credit: Tony Pizarro, with Kev D as assistant engineer
• Most of the album was recorded during and after the 'Cop Killer' media firestorm

Cover

• Original artwork painted by Dave Halili, who was also the cover artist for Body Count
• It showed a white boy seemingly immersed in black culture, surrounded by images of violence, mayhem and disorder

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), known as Ice-T, is an American rapper and actor active in both hip-hop and heavy metal.
• Began as an underground rapper in the 1980s; signed to Sire Records in 1987 and released debut album Rhyme Pays.
• Founded Rhyme $yndicate Records in 1988; Power (1988) is his only platinum-certified album from the RIAA.
• Co-founded heavy metal band Body Count in 1990; the self-titled debut came out in 1992.
• The controversy over "Cop Killer" led to his departure from Warner Bros. Records; Home Invasion was released via Priority Records.
• Has played Odafin "Fin" Tutuola on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since 2000.
• Won a Grammy for "Back on the Block" and, with Body Count, the Best Metal Performance Grammy in 2021.
• Released the album Criminal Migraine in 2026.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics gave the album mixed reviews
• Robert Christgau gave it a B+, writing that the bad guys seem to have won at first, but that Ice-T still places himself as shrewdly as ever
• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave it two and a half stars out of five
• Erlewine called it an uneven, muddled affair rather than the clean, focused attack of O.G. Original Gangster
• He tied this to the fact that most of the album was recorded during and after the 'Cop Killer' media firestorm

Records

• Peaked at number 9 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart
• Peaked at number 14 on the Billboard 200
• Certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on 1 June 1993
• It is Ice-T's last studio album to receive a certification from the RIAA

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Some leaked copies of the album as first planned for Sire Records circulate, with a few differences.
• On those copies, the tracks It's On, That's How I'm Livin', I Ain't New Ta This and Race War are absent.
• The same leaked copies include 'Ricochet' and an extra spoof track called 'Imagine That' before the outro.
• Ice-T first agreed to an all-black cover and a name change to The Black Album before leaving the label.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact