Body Count is an American crossover thrash band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1990. The group is fronted by Ice-T, who co-founded the group with lead guitarist Ernie C out of their interest in heavy metal music. Ice-T took on the role of vocalist and writing the lyrics for most of the group's songs. Lead guitarist Ernie C has been responsible for writing the group's music. Their controversial self-titled debut album was released on Sire Records in 1992.

The song "Cop Killer" was the subject of much controversy. Although Sire Records' parent company, Warner Bros. Records, defended the single, Ice-T chose to remove the track from the album because he felt that the controversy had eclipsed the music itself. The group left Sire the following year. Since then, they have released four further albums on different labels, none of which have been received as commercially or critically well as their debut album.

Body Count's musical style derives from the dark, ominous tones of traditional heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath and thrash metal bands such as Slayer, as well as hardcore punk's aggressiveness. The band's music is described as speed metal and thrash metal. According to Ernie C, "We wanted to be a big punk band [...] Our first record is almost a punk record." The presence of a rapper in a heavy metal band has been credited for paving the way for the rise of rap metal and nu metal, even though Ice-T does not rap in most Body Count songs and considers it to solely be a rock band. According to Ernie C, "A lot of rappers want to be in a rock band, but it has to be done sincerely. You can't just get anybody on guitar and expect it to work. [...] Ice and I, on the other hand, really loved the music we were doing, and it showed."

Three out of the band's original six members are deceased: D-Roc died from lymphoma, Beatmaster V from leukemia and Mooseman in a drive-by shooting.