Michael Jackson 1958 - 2009

Rapper and actor Ice-T appears on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

I met him once. He was in New York at the Sony studios shooting a video, and I was there with one of my groups. And I was requested — Michael wanted to meet me. I went in the back, and he was sitting between two women and he shook my hand, and it was cool. Somebody like Michael Jackson — you don't even think they know you exist. You know, you're a rapper. And the fact that he was like, "Ice-T is here. I would like to meet Ice-T." And I shook his hand and it was a very cool moment. One of my friends said, No matter how tough you are, Michael Jackson will have the biggest gangster in the front row screaming like a bitch at his concert. That's about the best compliment you can give.

At the end of the day, his legacy to me is, he was original. That's one thing about Michael Jackson — you can't say any of his stuff was taken from anybody else. It was 100% original. All the new people who are going to mimic him — the little 'N Sync kid [Justin Timberlake] — they know they doing the Michael Jackson.

See the 100 best albums of all time.

See TIME's full Michael Jackson coverage.