Which rapper helps save Earth in Get Schwifty?

Which rapper helps save Earth in “Get Schwifty”? Ice-T is the answer.

In the season-two episode “Get Schwifty,” a gigantic alien head appears above Earth and demands an original song. Rick and Morty respond with the improvised performance “Get Schwifty,” while Ice-T helps with the crisis in an unusually literal way: he is secretly Water-T, an alien being whose natural form resembles the letter T.

The character is voiced by series co-creator Dan Harmon, not by the real Ice-T. That distinction is a common source of confusion, because the episode uses the rapper’s stage name and celebrity persona as the basis for the character. The fictional Ice-T initially acts selfishly, but eventually helps Earth by contributing to the planet’s defense against the Cromulons.

The episode also turns the performer’s name into a visual joke: Water-T can change shape, and his alien identity explains why the character is more than simply a celebrity cameo. The real Ice-T later responded publicly to the bizarre parody and eventually voiced Magma-Q, the fictional character’s father, in a later episode.