FROM THE JULY/AUGUST 2011 ISSUE OF XXL
"Ten years of marriage and a reality show later, Ice-T and Coco are still going strong—proving to the world that celebrity couples can last and that true love knows no colors…
He’s a light-skinned, 53-year-old former pimp turned gangsta-rap pioneer who sang about killing cops before playing one on the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
She’s a White, 32-year-old Valley girl turned swimsuit model with 39DD-26-401⁄2 dimensions, a penchant for TwitPic’ing seminude photos of herself and a talent for balancing soda cans on her backside.
Together, they are Ice-T and Coco, happily married couple. And while some might see them as a sort of novelty, their union has survived the usual celebrity-couple jinx, putting their PDA on Front Street for a decade strong now.
What’s their secret?
“Partnership,” says Ice, who was born Tracy Marrow in Newark, New Jersey, and raised in Los Angeles. “Being around Coco is like being at the spa: stress free. Her agenda is to make my day better, which makes me want to make her day better in return. That’s how we make life better for each other.”
Coco (née Nicole Austin) agrees and stresses the importance of communication: “You have to open up and bring up whatever’s in your head.”
To further display how they’ve made it work, the couple premiered their E! reality show, Ice Loves Coco, in June—shortly after renewing their vows at the W Hotel in Hollywood. The show chronicles their day-to-day, as Ice continues his rap and acting career and Coco launches her clothing line, Licious. They recently spoke to XXL about their life together and being role models for happy hip-hop marriage.—Mariel Concepcion
XXL: Take us back to the beginning. How did you two meet?
Coco: We met about 10 years ago, in California, at a video shoot. I was leaving the bathroom, and his friend said, “You have to go meet someone right now.” In comes Ice, in a red snake suit and hat. He was introduced to me, I introduced myself, and sparks flew on his end. He had a grump day—he has those often. I didn’t know we were supposed to click. Afterwards, he regrouped and asked if I would consider dating a gangster rapper. I said, “Of course.” [He responded,] “Baby, take the N off nice and you get Ice.” I was smitten right there.
Ice-T: I was in a bad mood, and I was doing [the shoot] as a favor for a friend. Coco was a model on the set, and my friend figured, This will cheer Ice up. I turned around, and I was like, Damn! And when she walked away, I thought, Homegirl got booty, too!
You got married two months after meeting. How did you each know the other was the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?
Coco: He made me laugh like no other. He’s always making me laugh—crying
on the floor. I also liked the fact that he’s hardcore but on the inside he’s not.
Maybe to everyone else he is, but to me he doesn’t play that. He’s sensitive to my needs. He loves to cuddle and little things like that.
Ice-T: For me it was a no-brainer. Not only was Coco beautiful and a sweetheart, she gave me no stress. She’s not a nagger. She’s not a bitch. She doesn’t talk bad about people. She’s a hustler. It just seemed like what I wanted. You can’t be a couple and be independent. “I gotta be independent”—that’s what breaks couples up. We are a couple.
What was your wedding like?
Ice-T: We eloped. We didn’t have much time to do it. We were already both wearing rings; she was already my wife to the public. It was New Year’s Eve, we flew to
Vegas, got the license, called downstairs, went to the chapel and knocked it out.
An hour later, we took off our outfits and had an NYE party.
Coco: Best moment of my entire life, when you’re saying vows and looking into each other’s eyes. Ice started crying a bit, which made me cry.
You are a high-profile interracial couple. Have you ever gotten any backlash for this?
Coco: When I first got with him, the Black women didn’t really find it amusing. I found it more in Harlem. When I first came into the picture, they were like, “Who is this blonde bimbo?” I just love the man. I’m not trying to step on anyone’s toes. I wanted to show the world I was dedicated to this man. After seeing me so many years, now I get so much respect.
You definitely get a lot of love from the public these days. What do you think it is that people find so appealing?
Ice-T: They never seen me disrespect her. Never see a picture of me without her. They see how I speak about her, how she speaks about me. If we’re always out of pocket, people be like, “Fuck them. That’s corny.” But we respect each other, and we love each other, and we don’t have a problem saying that."
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