Ice-T [ tickets ] has gathered several hip-hop/rap artists to work on his newest project, Black Ice [ tickets ], which will release a new recording, "Urban Legends," July 1, according to a press release. Ice-T and genre vets Black Silver, Aceyalone, Too $hort, RBX, Marc Live, and Tash of Tha Alkaholiks will be joined on the Black Ice project by up-and-comers Fedi Demarco, Act!on, Griffen, Faxx, Main Flow and E-Rule.

The "Urban Legends" project, executive produced by Babe Ruth, is being billed as the first ever "Gangsta Hip Hop" recording. Ice-T said in a statement that the project conjures up early rap, which he says was done for fun.

"When I started, no one had even bought a car from rapping. You just did it with your friends, but now, those friends, they're the hottest rappers," he said. "This [album] is old style ... I just called up my friends and asked them to come down."