Blade Icewood
Blade Icewood, west side Detroit rapper of Street Lord’z, known for “Boy Would You (Boss Up)” and the solo albums Stackmaster (2004) and Blood, Sweat & Tears (2005).
Street Lord'z
Blade Icewood was born Darnell Quincy Lindsay on March 14, 1977, in Detroit. He came up on the city's west side as a member of the Street Lord'z, a hardcore rap group that released “Platinum Rolee's Don't Tic Toc” in 1999 and “Platinum Masterpiece” in 2001. The second album carried the subtitle “Original Chedda Boyz”, reflecting a dispute over that name with the Eastside Chedda Boyz, a rivalry the Metro Times covered in 2004.
Solo work
His solo catalog on Discogs centers on “Stackmaster” (2004) and “Blood, Sweat & Tears” (2005). “Stackmaster” featured fellow Street Lord G-Rock and included a remix of “Boy Would U”. “Blood, Sweat & Tears” was issued on Icewood Entertainment with guests including Royce da 5'9" and Street Lord Juan, and contains “Ride On Me”, a song Wikipedia describes as an underground Detroit classic. The Metro Times noted in 2004 that much of this music sold through outlets that did not report to SoundScan, so sales were never accurately tracked. Blade also appeared on numerous Detroit compilations and mixtapes of the period.
Boss Up
His best-known record is “Boy Would You (Boss Up)”. The dance he performed in its video, known as the Boss Up dance or the Blade Dance, became a lasting piece of Detroit street culture. Deadline Detroit has described it as a signature way to show someone is in tune with the city's culture, and it continues to circulate in viral clips years later.
Death and legacy
Blade Icewood survived a shooting in September 2004 that left him paralyzed. On April 19, 2005, he was shot and killed at a car wash on Seven Mile Road on Detroit's west side. His family established Icewood Entertainment after his death, and his son, Lil Blade, is also a rapper. In 2023 TV One's “Sins of the City” revisited his story in an episode that drew on Metro Times archives.
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