( CNN ) -- If anyone knows hip-hop , it 's Ice-T . The rapper-turned-actor has added a title to his résumé : filmmaker . Ice ( born Tracy Marrow ) recently sat down with CNN to answer some iReporter questions and discuss his new documentary , `` Something from Nothing : The Art of Rap . '' The film explores the genre as art form and includes lots of big names in the music industry , including Kanye West , Nas , Eminem and Dr. Dre . When it came time to find voices for his project , Ice did n't have to look far . `` I did the film by calling only my friends I had in my address book , '' the rapper said . `` All my homies I 'd been in the business with over 20 years . ( I told them , ) ' I 'm just going to ask you questions , not about the money , the cars , the jewelry , the beef , but the craft . ' `` In an earlier interview , the star of `` Law & Order : SVU '' noted that there was an abundance of rap stars who wanted to appear in his documentary . `` There 's lots of people I would love to have interviewed , but you got to remember the movie only could last two hours , '' he explained . `` At the end of my filming , I had 52 rappers shot . I had 35 rappers waiting to be shot . My first edit was four hours , so I just could n't fit everybody into the movie , so yeah , there 's a lot of people missing , but I think I was able to get a good cross-section of the different styles of hip-hop . '' His decades in the rap game allowed him insider access and candid interviews . `` I was kind of surprised at how open the guys got and just had fun in front of the camera , '' Ice said . `` By me doing the interviews , it turned into more of a conversation than an interview , and you get to see us laugh , and you get some never-before-heard insight on some of the rapper 's lives . '' When it came time to answer iReport questions , Ice was more than ready to take on inquires on everything from his love of video gaming to his thoughts on the military . Not many know that he served in the United States Army before entering the hip-hop game . `` Nothing but respect to the soldiers coming home from the war , '' he said . `` As far as something I can tell them to do , this might sound cold , but do n't expect anybody to care . Do n't expect that because you 're a GI , you 're going to come home and somebody 's going to open up their hands up to you . You just gon na have to bust your a** from the ground up , unfortunately . '' These days , he is as known for his E ! reality show `` Ice Loves Coco , '' about the exploits of him and his model wife . He said he does n't mind people admiring his wife 's ... assets . `` I do n't have a problem with people admiring Coco , and I have a tight relationship , '' he said . `` When we first got together , she was already a swimsuit model , and you ca n't say , 'Now we 're married , you ca n't do that anymore . ' `` So is the man once feared for his influence with songs like `` Cop Killer '' now a homebody who has mellowed so much that he 's cool with being better known for playing a police officer on television than one of the founders of gangsta rap ? `` Even when I made 'Cop Killer , ' I ( was n't ) a cop killer , '' he said . `` I was just acting out a character of somebody who lost it and went after brutal cops . ''
Ice - T has released a documentary on the art of hip - hop . He answered questions from the audience . He called on his friends in the music industry for his latest project .