"I don't do drugs, but I never expected it": Ice-T looks back at the deaths of friends and fellow rappers Coolio and Michael K. Williams

Legendary rapper turned actor Ice-T has lost two dear friends to overdose in recent years, and it has affected him deeply. First Michael K. Williams in 2021, then Coolio a year later; both deaths were attributed to accidental fentanyl overdose.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ice-T opened up about how he was ultimately affected by the loss of his friends:

"I don't do drugs, but I never expected it.”

The iconic rapper continued,

"When it hit Coolio and it hit Mike, that was the nail in the coffin. That's when you go, 'Yo, this s‑‑‑ is real.' You know what I'm saying? It's real."

Ice-T opens up on drug awareness, friendships

In order to raise awareness, Ice-T will be hosting an A&E documentary special called Fame and Fentanyl. The series will explore the current fentanyl crisis through the premature deaths of numerous stars who tested positive for the substance in postmortem toxicology reports.

While the rapper admits to being aware that fentanyl existed, before experiencing its effects firsthand, he was wholly unaware of how devastating it could be.

"They have people out here, chemists that are putting this s‑‑‑ into different drugs, and people have started dying. Now the word on the street is like, 'Yo, this s‑‑‑ will kill you.'"

When speaking about his dear friend Michael K. Williams, known to many as Omar from The Wire, the rapper shared,

"We had never worked together, but we had planned to work together. I hoped to work with him. When people die of fentanyl, it's like they got hit by a car, like they got shot. This is a person who's healthy and tomorrow they're outta there."

On Coolio, his other late friend, Ice-T had this to say:

"Coolio was healthy. I know he didn't want to die. He spoke freely about it, but that's the thing. If you're doing drugs recreationally, you're not trying to take your own life. Recreation is a game, but this is no longer a game."

The American rapper also shared another poignant observation that cannot be ignored:

"People think you have to be a drug addict to OD, that you have to do a lot. No. With this, it's one time and boom, it's a wrap. So don't f‑‑‑ with it. Don't play around anymore. There's something on the street that's poison."

It is evident that Ice-T has been affected by the deaths of his friends and is working actively to prevent the loss of more lives due to fentanyl.

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