When Rob Van Winkle, better known as rapper Vanilla Ice, comes to mind, so does his infamous song “Ice ice baby.”
Vanilla Ice’s debut album To the Extreme, released in 1990, became the fastest selling hip hop album of all time and “Ice ice baby” was the first hip hop single to top the billboard charts.
Van Winkle now hosts a home renovation series, Vanilla Ice Project, and is a judge on Canada Sings, airing on Global Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
Though Vanilla Ice is no longer “cooking MCs like a pound of bacon,” his mainstream success came with many hardships and interesting moments. Global News.ca looked at the top five things you may not know about Vanilla Ice.
1. Van Winkle’s third studio album, Hard to Swallow, focused on a nu-metal genre
Hard to Swallow, released in 1998 by Republic Records, was recorded after the rapper took a four year break from music. The heavy metal, hip hop mix attracted a new fan following and a lot of media attention; however, reviews of Van Winkle’s attempts at metal music were negative.
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2. Suge Knight, former CEO of Death Row Records, was rumoured to have assaulted Vanilla Ice
It was widely reported, but never confirmed by Van Winkle, that Suge Knight forced him to sign over publishing rights to “Ice ice baby” following the immediate success of the song. Knight is a record producer and co-founder of Death Row Records, which signed Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre. Rumours surfaced that Knight threatened to throw Van Winkle off a balcony, unless he signed the song over to him.
3. Vanilla Ice was featured in Madonna’s book “Sex”
Madonna’s infamous coffee table book titled “Sex” released in October of 1992, shocked the world with its controversial content. The book consisted of sexually suggestive and pornographic images involving various sexual acts. The book featured other celebrities such as Isabella Rossellini, model Naomi Campbell, rapper Big Daddy Kane and Vanilla Ice.
4. Van Winkle flipped houses and experimented with home-reno’s as a teen
In his late teens Van Winkle began to flip houses, a real estate business venture where people purchase homes and renovate them to re-sell them at a higher value. He later began to dabble with remodelling projects, including his own mansion on Miami Beach. His passion for home renovations turned into a television series called the Vanilla Ice Project in 2010.
5. Vanilla Ice appears in the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie
The rapper appears in the 1991 film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, as himself, performing his song “Ninja Rap“.
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