Tracy Marrow a/k/a Ice-T was born in New Jersey. As an only child whose parents died when he was very young, Ice-T became involved in Los Angeles gangs before spending four years in the army. He released a string of groundbreaking West Coast rap records and formed the thrash-metal band Body Count, whose 1991 self-titled debut contained the controversial single "Cop Killer." He currently stars as Detective Fin Tutuola on Law & Order: SVU.

Douglas Century is the author of Barney Ross: The Life of a Jewish Fighter and Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside the Franklin Avenue Posse, and is the co-author of the New York Times bestsellers Takedown and Under and Alone. He has written frequently for The New York Times, among many other publications, and is a contributing editor at Tablet Magazine.