Body Count's Body Count

(Paperback)

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Years before movements like Black Lives Matter and Afropunk became world-changing political and cultural forces, a band of punk and metal dissidents made a record that confronted white supremacy and police brutality while shattering musical boundaries. On their debut album, Body Count attacked preconceived notions about race and music in the United States, but the US was not ready. The albums controversial lyrical content sparked protests and boycotts, was publicly denounced by the President and Vice President of the United States, and was subjected to nationwide campaigns to pull the record from stores. The record was pulled, and the single Cop Killer was removed from future pressings. But decades later, Body Count looks more and more prescient, a depiction of an America its lawmakers didn't want to examine, that needed to be examined for them. Body Counts Body Count tracks how a team of LA misfits released a musically and thematically defiant album that still sounds revolutionary today. In the 2020s, Body Count is releasing some of their most acclaimed music, playing to large audiences and even winning a Grammy. This is the story of how and underappreciated band overcame powerful adversaries to reshape Americas cultural conversation.

Author Bio

Ben Apatoff is a New York-based writer and educator whose work has been published in Metal Injection, The New York Daily News, The Deli, Electric Literature, Beyond Race, and Outburn. He is the author of Metallica (2021).