Ice Ice Baby
"Ice Ice Baby" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Vanilla Ice | ||||
from the album To the Extreme | ||||
A-side | "Play That Funky Music" (US) | |||
B-side | "It's a Party" (UK) | |||
Released | August 22, 1990 | |||
Genre | Hip hop | |||
Length | 3:46 (radio edit) 4:31 (album version) | |||
Label | SBK | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Vanilla Ice | |||
Vanilla Ice singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Ice Ice Baby" on YouTube |
"Ice Ice Baby" is the debut single by American rapper Vanilla Ice, K. Kennedy and DJ Earthquake.[2][3] It samples the bassline of the song "Under Pressure" by British rock band Queen and British singer David Bowie, who did not receive songwriting credit or royalties until after it had become a hit. Released on Vanilla Ice's debut album, To the Extreme (1990), it is his best-known song. It has appeared in remixed form on Platinum Underground and Vanilla Ice Is Back! A live version appears on the album Extremely Live, while a nu metal version appears on the album Hard to Swallow, under the title "Too Cold".
"Ice Ice Baby" was first released as the B-side to Vanilla Ice's cover of "Play That Funky Music", but the single was not initially successful. When disc jockey David Morales[4] played "Ice Ice Baby" instead, it began to gain success. "Ice Ice Baby" was the first hip-hop single to top the Billboard Hot 100.[citation needed] Outside of the United States, "Ice Ice Baby" topped the charts in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom, thus helping the song diversify hip hop by introducing it to a mainstream audience.[5][6]
Lyrics and music
Robert Van Winkle, better known by his stage name Vanilla Ice, wrote "Ice Ice Baby" in 1983 at the age of 16, basing its lyrics upon his experiences in South Florida.[7] The lyrics describe a shooting and Van Winkle's rhyming skills.[8] The chorus of "Ice Ice Baby" originates from the signature chant of the national African American fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha.[9][10] Of the song's lyrics, Van Winkle stated in a 2001 interview that "If you released 'Ice Ice Baby' today, it would fit in today's lyrical respect among peers, you know what I'm sayin'? [...] My lyrics aren't, 'Pump it up, go! Go!' At least I'm sayin' somethin'."[11]
The song's hook
In December 1990, Van Winkle told British youth music magazine Smash Hits where he came up with the idea of sampling "Under Pressure":[18]
The way I do stuff is to go through old records that my brother has. He used to listen to rock 'n' roll and stuff like that. I listened to funk and hip hop because rock wasn't really my era. But having a brother like that, well, I just mixed the two, and he had a copy of 'Under Pressure'. And putting those sounds to hip hop was great.
— Robert Van Winkle, Smash Hits
Van Winkle described himself as the first rapper to cross into the pop market and said that although his pioneer status forced him to "take the heat for a lot of people" for his music's use of samples, the criticism he received over sample use allowed sampling to become acceptable in mainstream hip hop.[19]
Release
"Ice Ice Baby" was initially released by
Reception
"Ice Ice Baby" garnered critical acclaim, was the first hip hop single to top the Billboard charts,[29] and has been credited for helping diversify hip hop by introducing it to a mainstream audience.[30]
Following the song's success, California rapper Mario "Chocolate" Johnson, an associate of record producer Suge Knight, claimed that he had helped in writing the song, and had not received credit or royalties.[37] Knight and two bodyguards arrived at The Palm in West Hollywood, where Van Winkle was eating. After shoving Van Winkle's bodyguards aside, Knight and his own bodyguards sat down opposite Van Winkle, staring at him before finally asking "How you doin'?"[37] Similar incidents were repeated several times before Knight showed up at Van Winkle's suite on the fifteenth floor of the Bel Age Hotel, accompanied by Johnson and a member of the Los Angeles Raiders.[37] According to Van Winkle, Knight took him out on the balcony by himself, and implied that he would throw Van Winkle off unless he signed the rights to the song over to Knight.[38]
Legacy
Detroit-based rapper Eminem states that when he first heard "Ice Ice Baby", "I felt like I didn't want to rap anymore. I was so mad, because he was making it real hard for me."[39]
After audiences began to view Van Winkle as a novelty act and a pop star rather than a legitimate rapper, his popularity began to decline.[40] Van Winkle lost some credibility among hip hop fans, but later began to regain some success, attracting a new audience outside of the mainstream audience that had formerly accepted him and then rejected him.[40] "Ice Ice Baby" continues to be the song that Van Winkle is best known for internationally, although Van Winkle states that his American fans like his newer music better.[41]
According to Rolling Stone, the "Ice Ice Baby"–"Under Pressure" controversy is a landmark music copyright case since it "sparked discussion about the punitive actions taken in plagiarism cases". The magazine's Jordan Runtagh added: "Though [Vanilla Ice] paid the price, some argue that isn't enough to make up for the potential credibility lost by Queen and David Bowie, who are now linked to him through a collaboration they had no choice in joining."[16]
A live version of the song appeared on the album Extremely Live.[42] "Ice Ice Baby" was rerecorded in a nu metal version titled "Too Cold".[43] Originally intended to be released as a hidden track or B-side, "Too Cold" was featured on Van Winkle's 1998 album Hard to Swallow, and received radio play in some markets. In 2000, a remix titled "Ice Ice Baby 2001" was released in Europe as a single, with a newly produced music video. The remix generated new international interest in Van Winkle's music.[44]
VH1 and Blender ranked "Ice Ice Baby" fifth on its list of the "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever".[45] It was also given the distinction by the Houston Press as being the worst song ever to emanate from Texas.[46] In 1999, the song's music video was "retired" on the MTV special 25 Lame, in which Van Winkle himself appeared to destroy the video's master tape. Given a baseball bat, Van Winkle ended up destroying the show's set.[47][48] However, in December 2007, VH1 ranked the song in 29th place of their 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's.[49]
In November 2011,
In 2019, Billboard listed it at No. 108 in their ranking of "Billboard's Top Songs of the '90s".[51]
In 1991,
Track listings
1990 release
|
|
2001 remixes
2008 remixes
|
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[100] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Austria (IFPI Austria)[101] | Gold | 25,000* |
Canada (Music Canada)[102] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Germany (BVMI)[103] | Gold | 250,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI)[104] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[105] | Platinum | 15,000* |
Sweden (GLF)[106] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[107] | Platinum | 600,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[108] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[108] Digital sales |
Gold | 500,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
See also
- U Can't Touch This, 1990 sample of 1981 Super Freak
- Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)
References
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External links
- "Ice Ice Baby" music video on YouTube