Ice-T's hot coco

For hip-hop's original gangster, she's the perfect partner in crime

As the most outrageous and improbable couple in hip-hop saunters into Blue Fin, an upscale res­taurant in midtown Manhattan, it's hard to say for certain which of the two gets more attention from the buttoned-down lunchtime crowd. Is it Ice-T, the pioneering rapper turned television cop, whose inconspicuous black knit cap and red sweat suit can't disguise his intense gaze and trademark swagger? Or do gazes lock onto his female companion, the fortuitously proportioned blonde dripping with bling, his bullet-busted, bubble-butted wife, known as Coco?

For nearly eight years the ultracool Ice-T and his hot Coco have come as a package deal: From the boardroom to the bedroom, the onetime street hustler, who parlayed his gangsta-rap career into a starring role as Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola on NBC's Law is Order: Special Victims Unit, is always accompanied by the distinctive body model whom Ice affectionately describes as "a classic blonde with an abstract ass that's unbelievable—as in, it cannot be believed."

And though their controversial relationship may not always conform to the standards of a narrow-minded public, Coco is proud to say she has won over his fans by bringing stability and focus to Ice's life. "Out of anyone in the game, he's going to be the craziest one to hold down," she says. "It obvi­ously lakes a big person to do that, and Coco fits the bill."

Born Nicole Austin (her moniker was given to her by a baby brother who couldn't quite pronounce the name Nicole), she met her husband-to-be on the set of an independent film (text concluded on page 139)

coco

(continued from page 53) he was producing. He was in a bad mood that day, so Ice's friends sent Coco over to cheer him up.

"When I turned around," Ice recalls, "believe it or not the first thing I saw was her teeth. Then I seen her titties. Oh shit! My brain said, She's probably skinny— and brothers, we want a little meat on their bones. So she turned around and I'm like. Oh, she's got an ass!"

After collecting himself, Ice reap-proached Coco and asked if she'd ever date a gangsta rapper. "I'm a white girl who listens to dance music," Coco says. "I thought all rappers were the same. I said, 'Well, if he's nice.''

Ice's response? " "Take the n off nice, you get Ice.' Clod sent me that line."

Ever since, the two have been insepa­rable. Coco accompanies Ice to his con­certs and lectures and has her own office on the .S'l't' set, while Ice helps run her websites, cocosworld.com and myspace .com/cocosworld2006. He also gets the plum assignment on her photo shoots.

"I call him my spritz boy," Coco explains. "He oils me down to make me look all nice and wet."

"The idea of my wife alone, naked, in a room full of horny men can weird a guy out," Ice replies. "But if you're there, then it turns into a little more fun."

During the course of her three-day im.wbov session. Coco was photographed all over Manhattan. She vamped in a pent­house at the top of Trump Tower and wan­dered the subway system, wearing little more than a trench coal. "We had to keep walking around until we didn't see any peo­ple, and then I'd Hash the camera," Coco says. "It's hard to expose yourself in a way that won't get you arrested. A conductor stopped the train, came back and was like, 'What's going on?' He could have arrested us. But I flashed him. and he was happy."

Standing just tive-foot-two. with official measurements of 39-23-40, Coco says the world of traditional runway modeling never embraced her. "I always knew I had a dif­ferent kind of body," she says. "I was stock­ier than the average girl and more athletic." Ilul she's proud of her physique. "I'm like a inidisl," she says. "I would feel fine if every­body walked around naked."

"She likes being butt-naked," Ice says, "and I'm like, 'That's because you look good naked.' If every man was built like a model like Tyson Beckford, they'd walk around naked too."

Yet even in the year 2008, Ice-T and Coco's status as a prominent, successful interracial couple hasn't pleased every­one. "America's still fucked up," says Ice. "To say we get static about it is to over­state it. But to say there's no static is to lie. We roll with the people who like us, and everyone else can kiss our ass."