Vanilla Ice

Vanilla Ice
Background information
Birth name	Robert Matthew Van Winkle
Also known as	Vanilla Ice
Born	October 31, 1967 (1967-10-31) (age 41) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Genre(s)	Hip hop, nu metal
Occupation(s)	Rapper, Singer, Actor
Years active	1988–present
Label(s)	SBK
Associated acts	Public Enemy, Insane Poetry, La the Darkman, Insane Clown Posse
Website	VanillaIce.com

Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967),^[1] best known as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper known for the 1990 smash hit "Ice Ice Baby."

Career

Early life

Van Winkle was born at Baylor University Medical Center to Camilla Beth Van Winkle (née Dickerson), a secretary and part-time private music teacher, and Dallas-born William Basil Van Winkle^[2], who left the family when Rob was nine years old. He has German, Dutch and Irish ancestry.

Van Winkle attended R. L. Turner High School in Carrollton, a suburb of Dallas. He became interested in breakdancing. Practicing on cardboard in his early teen years, he earned the nickname "Vanilla Ice".^[3] In the late 1980s, Van Winkle was the main attraction of many predominantly black local clubs with his freestyle rapping and dancing. He and his group of friends, consisting of Floyd "DJ Earthquake" Brown and several dancers, opened shows for rap heavyweights Public Enemy and M.C. Hammer.

In 1989, Van Winkle was represented by Jay King of Dallas as part of the rap group Vanilla Ice, Chante, Ambiance, LaRue and New Choice.^[4] Van Winkle's first foray into the music industry was the little-known album Hooked, released in 1989 on Atlanta-based independent label Ichiban Records. Selling 38,000 copies in three years, the album is considered a collector's item among fans due to its limited production.^[1]

His debut single from the record, "Play that Funky Music," failed to catch on with listeners, and both Van Winkle and the album remained in obscurity until a Georgia DJ decided to flip the twelve-inch single and play the B-side, which was "Ice Ice Baby," a track about Van Winkle's rhyming skills, the Miami street scene, and a gunfight on A1A/Beachfront Avenue. The overnight success of the single was enough for SBK Records to sign Van Winkle and buy the rights to Hooked for $300,000.

Mainstream success and failure (1990-1991)

In 1990, SBK rereleased Hooked as To the Extreme, which consisted mainly of new versions of the same songs. Van Winkle's manager and financier, Tommy Quon, chose a limited release for the single, but it nonetheless became the first rap single to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[5] SBK rushed Van Winkle onto the road to promote the album, with a sixteen-year-old Alanis Morissette as his opening act. To the Extreme was not released on vinyl in the U.S. (however, it was released on vinyl in European countries) so that fans bought the pricier CD instead, therefore becoming the first #1 album in the U.S. without a vinyl counterpart release; it went on to sell over eleven million copies. On November 1, To the Extreme ended M.C. Hammer's 21-week run at the top of the Billboard Top 200 en route to serving a sixteen-week stay of its own. During the tour, Ice's label had also molded him into a pop star, consisting of a flashy wardrobe similar to that of Hammer.

Van Winkle's success also brought legal and personal problems. "Ice Ice Baby" sampled the 1982 Queen and David Bowie collaboration "Under Pressure" without permission, acknowledging credit, or paying royalties. There was no public court case over the issue, but the copyright holders of "Under Pressure" considered a lawsuit and settled out of court with Van Winkle for an undisclosed sum. Van Winkle recalled in 2008, "What happened is I was trying not to get sued and it didn't work. So yeah, they're the same songs, in case you were wondering."^[6] According to his Behind the Music, feature, Van Winkle and his ex-manager explained that it took a few phone calls to settle the matter.

In addition, Van Winkle's debut single, "Play That Funky Music," had sampled the 1976 Wild Cherry hit of the same name; however, Wild Cherry singer-guitarist Rob Parissi was not credited as the writer of Van Winkle's version of the song, which was instead credited to Ice and DJ Earthquake.^[7] According to an interview for VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders in 2002, Parissi discovered that he had not been credited as a writer on Play That Funky Music.^[8] He was later awarded $500,000 in damages.

Meanwhile, members of the national black fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha accused Van Winkle of using the fraternity's chant "Ice ice baby, too cold, too cold," without credit or permission. Van Winkle later denied any knowledge of the fraternity.^[9]

His 1991 biography, Ice by Ice: The Vanilla Ice Story in His Own Words, chronicled a false background story in an attempt to give Van Winkle street credibility, claiming that he was a gang member from the ghetto of Miami Lakes, Florida, and had attended the same predominantly-black high school as 2 Live Crew's Luther Campbell. The biography also erroneously claimed that Van Winkle, an actual Motocross enthusiast, had been a national champion. Although the biography was attributed to Van Winkle, he later stated that he himself had no part in its authorship, and that its contents had actually been penned by Tommy Quon.^[10]

The same year, he starred in Cool as Ice, which was a very loose update of Rebel Without a Cause. It starred Van Winkle as Johnny, a biker gang member modeled after the Vanilla Ice persona, who falls in love with a preppy girl he meets while riding through a small town. The soundtrack, which was also Ice's second album release, featured several new tracks, including a duet with Naomi Campbell.^[11] The film was both a commercial and critical flop, and Van Winkle won the "Worst New Star" award at the 1991 Golden Raspberry Awards. Cool as Ice lasted less than a month in U.S. theaters with a total domestic gross of just over $1 million, and had a limited release on VHS.

In March 1991, Ice wrote and recorded a single titled "Ninja Rap" for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, and also performed the song in the movie. Rapper Tim Dog replied with "[Rap] is not something you can put into a movie with a bunch of turtles" on the single "I Ain't Having It," from his November 1991 album Penicillin on Wax.^[12][13]

Van Winkle's next album was a live version of To The Extreme titled Extremely Live, which represented a second rerelease of his songs. Though he received a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist and the album was certified gold, his fame had started to significantly falter. The public was quickly tiring of his image, which consisted of his flashy stage costumes and corny dialogue used in interviews. Van Winkle had now become a regular subject of parody and was regularly mocked by his peers, most notably in 3rd Bass' 1991 hit single "Pop Goes the Weasel."^[14] The music video featured Ice, played by Henry Rollins, being assaulted by the group at the end. Van Winkle later stated, "I loved what they did. It showed how I was having an impact. I sold seventeen million albums. Let them do whatever they want to me."^[15] Van Winkle also appeared in Madonna's 1992 book Sex.

Rebranded image (1994-2001)

After nearly three years away from the music scene, Van Winkle released a new album, Mind Blowin, in 1994. His image had been changed to a dreadlocked, marijuana-obsessed, tattooed hardcore rapper now incorporating a G-funk sound. Several tracks were peppered with attacks on 3rd Bass and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, even though both groups had split up nearly two years prior to the album's release. In an interview with High Times magazine, Primus guitarist Larry LaLonde commented on the album's numerous marijuana references, "He's got dreadlocks and he's got this song about smoking pot and basically he uses every little catchphrase he can think of that has to do with pot in his rap. That's all fine and dandy and cute, but it could be misconstrued and manipulated by the wrong people."^[16] Mind Blowin failed to crack the Billboard Top 200 and led to SBK dropping Van Winkle from the label. On July 4, 1994, Van Winkle attempted to commit suicide, and made another attempt later that same year, citing drug abuse and depression as a result of his flagging career.

It was widely reported that Van Winkle had been threatened and assaulted by Death Row Records CEO Marion "Suge" Knight, who forced Van Winkle to sign the publishing rights to him.^[17] Van Winkle stated that Knight took him "to the balcony and talked to me, but it's funny how the story gets turned around...I'm wondering how that story got changed around".^[18]

In 1996, he appeared on the Bloodhound Gang track "Boom" under his real name, which led to a moderate revival in popularity, and thus the first new Vanilla Ice material in four years. SBK had signed him to a new deal, and Hard to Swallow was released in 1998 and produced by Ross Robinson, known for his work with bands such as The Deftones, Korn and Limp Bizkit. The album was radically different from Van Winkle's previous works, as it was centered around nu metal rather than hip hop. The album also included a new version of "Ice Ice Baby" renamed "Too Cold," and reinterpreted as a stomping nu metal anthem. Guest artists on the album included Doug Ardito of Puddle of Mudd and Scott Borland. Though the record eventually went gold, it soon slipped from public consciousness.

In 2000, he co-hosted the car tuning program Ice with Jordan on the UK Men & Motors channel, alongside glamour model Jordan; the title was also a pun on the term "ICE" (in-car entertainment). The next year, Van Winkle released Bi-Polar, which was packaged as a double album (albeit on one CD) of alternative metal and contemporary hip-hop. The album featured collaborations with the likes of Wu-Tang Clan affiliate La Tha Darkman, Chuck D, and the Insane Clown Posse, but did not chart.^[19]

Reality TV (2002-present)

Vanilla Ice appearing at the Tex-Mex Grill in Baltimore, Maryland. He is pouring Jägermeister into a fellow reveler's mouth while singing his hit song, Ice Ice Baby.

In 2002, Van Winkle participated in the reality show Celebrity Boxing, in which he was defeated by actor Todd Bridges. Two years later, he starred in the second season of VH1's hit series The Surreal Life. On the show, despite his vow not to sing his past hits, Van Winkle eventually agreed to sing a karaoke version of "Ice Ice Baby" at a bar with Trishelle Cannatella and Traci Bingham.

Van Winkle appeared on the British reality show The Farm, in which he came in second place. He also starred in The Helix...Loaded, a parody of The Matrix.

In June 2005, Van Winkle won the second round of NBC's Hit Me Baby One More Time, performing "Ice Ice Baby" and covering Destiny's Child's hit "Survivor." He also appeared on a VH1 special entitled Remaking Vanilla Ice, which featured the revamped Van Winkle preparing for the release of his new album Platinum Underground. He also appeared on the series Damage Control on MTV2 to promote the record.

Platinum Underground, released in August, was a combination of some new material, along with tracks from Bi-Polar and some covers of his older works. It received mixed reviews and limited sales, resulting in his third career non-charting commercial release. Promotional work for the album included performing with Insane Clown Posse at Hallowicked 2005, and a series of European concerts in November and December of that year.

Van Winkle also starred in The Surreal Life: Fame Games in 2007, which pitted stars from various seasons of The Surreal Life against each other in competitions; during a concert at Virginia Tech, Van Winkle claimed he had beaten up pornography icon Ron Jeremy on the show, but "still [had] love for him." On February 2, 2007, the two appeared on The Tyra Banks Show and claimed they were once again friends.^[20]

Van Winkle has made efforts to buy back his entire catalog and royalties. He has stated that he owns almost 85% of To the Extreme and 100% of Mind Blowin.^[21]

Personal life

Van Winkle currently lives in Wellington, Florida with his wife, Laura (whom he married in 1996), and two daughters, Dusti Rain and Keelee Breeze. He had stopped using hard drugs and alcohol in 1994 following his failed suicide attempts, but continued to use marijuana until 2005, when he was informed by his throat doctor that he risked losing his voice if he did not quit.^[21] In January 2001, Van Winkle was arrested by police in Davie, Florida for assaulting his wife. According to the criminal complaint, they got into an argument as they drove on Interstate 595, with Van Winkle allegedly pulling hair from her head. He pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly conduct four months later, and was sentenced to probation and ordered to attend family therapy sessions.^[22][23]

He briefly attracted the attention of the media when his pet wallaroo, Bucky, and pet goat, Pancho, escaped from his Port St. Lucie, Florida home in November 2004. After wandering around local streets for over a week, the animals were caught, and returned to Van Winkle. He had to pay a $220 fine for expired pet tags, and an undisclosed fine for the escape of the animals.^[24]

On April 10, 2008, Van Winkle was arrested in Palm Beach County on a battery charge for allegedly kicking and hitting Laura.^[25] He was released the following day after Laura declared that her husband had only pushed her. In court, the couple's neighbor, Frank Morales, stated that it was merely a verbal argument. According to the police report, Van Winkle had told police that his wife is bipolar and tends to get irrational and argumentative, despite being on medication. Van Winkle was ordered by a Florida court to stay away from his wife following his arrest, and to only communicate with his children only if Morales accompanied him. The judge told Van Winkle that he could only contact his wife via telephone.^[26][27]

On April 29, 2008, his lawyers, Bradford Cohen and Joseph LoRusso, were able to get the entire case dropped, after providing the state attorney with evidence that conflicted with what was originally reported.^[28] Van Winkle released the following statement on his website: "I love my wife and my family. We have been together for fourteen years. Every now and then there is a bump in the road just like in most relationships; unfortunately mine is made public, and the media has a way of twisting things around. Don't believe what you hear. When I got out, we hugged and made up. We just want the whole thing to go away. My family means the world to me, and I would never hurt anyone."^[29]

Discography

Compilations

• Back 2 Back Hits (April 10, 1998)
• The Best of Vanilla Ice (February 23, 1999; reissued on March 13, 2001 and August 22, 2006)

Partial filmography

Footnotes

External links

• Official Site