In 1990’s Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice was the first hip-hop song to hit the top of the Billboard Charts. (refresh your memory here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp-is6S_b_g)
I remember when it hit the charts and to be truthful didn’t understand it. Even more I had a hard time dancing to it. Break dancing looks like it could hurt. I do admire, however, anyone who can spin on their head without getting hair burn or breaking their necks! At the time Rap/Hip Hop seemed harsh, bullish, and angry moreover it was different.
Just how different?
The song Ice Ice Baby became the catalyst for a much needed shift in mainstream music and modern culture. He wasn’t a black person trying to break into “white culture.” In fact it was the exact opposite. I wonder if he understands the true value of the impact he made not just on the music industry, but on the world.
Vanilla Ice wrote the lyrics to Ice Ice Baby when he was 16 years old. It was about his experiences growing up in South Florida which included of all things a drive by shooting. The latter, is something I cannot relate to, which could be why I did not connect with the music in the first place.
Life for Vanilla Ice was not a glamorous Hollywood success story. He produced other albums with minimal success and tried acting along with a realty television show appearance. He struggles with drugs and at one time attempted suicide. All that aside, there have been those like Justin Timberlake who re-recorded this 1990’s hit.
There has been a great deal of pressure on Ice to produce another hit. He doesn’t need to. Vanilla Ice has done exactly what he had to. It was the right song at the right time, and as a result of his creative efforts other musicians from all over the world heeded the call, allowing their own creative force and ideas to come forward making rap and hip hop part of main stream culture. Barriers broken.
And that is the story of Vanilla Ice. The road less travelled sparks a whole new movement. How many people have there been in our life time who have brought forth these kinds of gifts? Lots actually. Think about it.
This past January the Irish duo John and Edward release a single mashop of the classics Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby) listen to what has been inspired:
This talented duo didn’t just do a re-mix – they re-created it. Twenty years later I get it, and so do these young musicians. Call me crazy but I hear something pretty cool here. Baby, It’s Ice - always changing, evolving, and creating new experiences and different colours every time you see it - and - I love it.
Be sure to visit Busty's response to my picture http://bust-a-blog.blogspot.com/ you'll like it.
1 comment:
I took this picture to send to Songbird for our second Blog-off entry at the Forks. Two days prior I had taken my 12 year old God Daughter ice skating and they had family activities on the river. They had various finger paints available to paint directly onto the ice. There were names and little pictures all over it. After hundreds of skates passing over those pictures on the ice an interesting pattern was created that made for the picture you see posted now. Ice Ice Baby never crossed my mind, but leave it to Songbird to come up with something totally original - love it!
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