Ice T’s empire is expanding, thanks to a new show and a new partnership.
The premium French Brandy OG XO seems like it was crafted from the soundtrack of Ice T’s life. Therefore, their collaboration was almost preordained.
Ice T, who penned the 1991 classic OG: Original Gangster, has the type of brain that’s carefully calibrated to detect business opportunities that others do not discern, and he quickly made his vintage pimp move to marry up with Aiko Importers, the makers of this top shelf spirit.
“The company had already created this liquor. And my business partner showed me ‘XO OG.’ And I said ‘they don’t know who a real OG is.’ ” Ice T recalls while his buxom blond business partner and wife, Coco Austin, decorated his arm. “So we went and met with them and tasted it. And we said ‘damn, this drink is really smooth.’ And we hooked up a business deal. That’s what you do in this business.”
So, Ice, what’s the best way to sip OG XO? Set up the proper tempo for an OG sipper:
“You should be laid up with your woman. You should be in a cool, respectable outfit, have your lean correctly and have your pinkie out and then you just sip it. You look around, you talk a little s— and you sip it again.”
Standing in the middle of Kilroy’s Package Store on Atlanta’s bustling Southside as fans spilled into to the store to get photographs and autographs, Ice said the OG XO deal represents the latest in a string of deals he and his voluptuous vixen of a spouse have put together.
First, they will star in their own reality TV show, “Ice Loves Coco,” which is a takeoff of “I Love Lucy.”
Coco has also put together her own clothing line, Licious, “that’s for the curvy ladies that the sizes are from 2 to 14. It’s for the girls that want to show off their curves a little bit more,” she purrs as she bats her come-hither eyes. And finally, Ice T is about to break down the science of pimpin’ and hustlin’ in his debut memoir, Full Hustle.
“It’s simple. You take advantage of opportunities. You start of rapping, and somebody said ‘would you like to be in a movie?’ You try but you apply yourself when the opportunities open themselves for you. That’s the key to the game. Not sitting back crying about life but when [an] opportunity opens itself up, apply yourself to the fullest,” Ice admonishes. “Don’t make the person that gave you that break sorry they gave you that break. Make them say ‘this was the best thing I ever did was hire this person.’ And that reputation is going to move throughout your career. You can’t be lazy and you never can become complacent. You can’t ever say that ‘I’m there’ because you’re never there.
Sandwiched around these interviews, Ice T and Coco spoke at a couple of radio stations and then closed out his Hot-lanta itinerary with a private party that popped off in downtown ATL.
The best thing about OG XO, Ice T attests, is that this pristine libation is not designed to rip a hole in your back pocket. “This is a good liquor. It’s not expensive. It’s not an ego-based drink to where we charge you extra to make you think it’s better. It’s just better.”
–terry shropshire
