"Ice Ice Baby" is a hip hop song written by American rapper
Vanilla Ice and DJ Earthquake. The song samples the bassline of
"Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie, who did not
initially receive songwriting credit or royalties until after
it had become a hit. Originally released on Van Winkle's 1989
debut album
Hookedand later on his 1990 national debut
To the Extreme, it is his most famous and popular song.
It has appeared in remixed form on
Platinum Undergroundand
Vanilla Ice Is Back!A live version appears on the album
Extremely Live, while a rap rock version appears on the
album
Hard to Swallow, under the title "Too Cold".
"Ice Ice Baby" was initially released as the B-side to Van
Winkle's cover of "Play That Funky Music", but the single was
not initially successful. When a disc jockey played "Ice Ice
Baby" instead, it began to gain success. "Ice Ice Baby" was the
first hip hop single to top the
Billboardcharts. Topping the Australian, Dutch, Irish,
Italian and UK charts, the song helped diversify hip hop by
introducing it to a mainstream audience.
Robert Van Winkle, better known by his stage name Vanilla
Ice, wrote "Ice Ice Baby" at the age of 16, basing its lyrics
upon his experiences in South Florida. The lyrics describe a
drive-by shooting and Van Winkle's rhyming skills. The chorus
of "Ice Ice Baby" originates from the signature chant of the
national African American fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha. Of the
song's lyrics, Van Winkle states 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'."
The song's hook samples the bassline of the 1981 song "Under
Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie. Freddie Mercury and David
Bowie did not receive credit or royalties for the sample. In a
1990 interview, Van Winkle said the two melodies were slightly
different because he had added an additional note. In later
interviews, Van Winkle readily admitted he sampled the song and
claimed his 1990 statement was a joke; others, however,
suggested he had been serious. Van Winkle later paid Mercury
and Bowie, who have since been given songwriting credit for the
sample. In December 1990, Van Winkle told
Smash Hitsmagazine where he came up with the idea of
sampling "Under Pressure":
Van Winkle described himself as the first rapper to cross
into the pop market, and said as a result he "had to take the
heat for a lot of people" for his music's use of samples, but
the criticism he received over sample use allowed sampling to
become acceptable in mainstream hip hop.
"Ice Ice Baby" was initially released by Ichiban Records as
the B-side to Van Winkle's cover of "Play That Funky Music".
The 12-inch single featured the radio, instrumental and a
cappella versions of "Play That Funky Music" and the radio
version and "Miami Drop" remix of "Ice Ice Baby". When a disc
jockey played "Ice Ice Baby" instead of the single's A-side,
the song gained more success than "Play That Funky Music". A
music video for "Ice Ice Baby" was produced for $8000. The
video was financed by Van Winkle's manager, Tommy Quon, and
shot on the roof of a warehouse in Dallas, Texas. In the video,
Van Winkle is shown rapping the lyrics while he and others
dance to the song. Heavy airplay of the video by The Box while
Van Winkle was still unknown increased public interest in the
song. "Ice Ice Baby" was given its own single, released in 1990
by SBK Records in the United States, and EMI Records in the
United Kingdom. The SBK single contained the "Miami Drop",
instrumental and radio mixes of "Ice Ice Baby" and the album
version of "It's A Party". The EMI single contained the club
and radio mixes of the song, and the shortened radio edit. The
single was quickly pulled from the American market soon after
the song reached number one, in a successful attempt to drive
consumers to buy the album instead.
"Ice Ice Baby" was the first hip hop single to top the
Billboardcharts. It has been credited for helping
diversify hip hop by introducing it to a mainstream (not
exclusively black) audience.
Entertainment Weeklyreviewer Mim Udovitch wrote that
"[Vanilla Ice] probably would have scored with his hit rap
single 'Ice Ice Baby' even if he hadn't been white. There's
just something about the way its hook — a sample from Queen and
David Bowie's 'Under Pressure' — grabs you and flings you out
onto the dance floor."
Following the song's success, California rapper Mario
"Chocolate" Johnson, an associate of record producer Suge
Knight, claimed that he had written and produced the song, and
had not received credit or royalties for the song. 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 in front of Van Winkle,
staring at him before finally asking "How you doin'?" Similar
incidents were repeated on several occasions before Knight
showed up at Van Winkle's hotel suite on the fifteenth floor of
the Bel Age Hotel, accompanied by Johnson and a member of the
Los Angeles Raiders. 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.
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. 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." 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. "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.
A live version appeared on the album
Extremely Live. "Ice Ice Baby" was rerecorded in a rap
rock version titled "Too Cold". 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 became a radio hit 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. In 2006, singer Richard Cheese released a comedic cover
of the song, performed in a lounge style, on his album
Silent Nightclub.
Blenderranked "Ice Ice Baby" fifth on its list of the
"50 Worst Songs Ever". 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.
In 2010, Irish singing duo Jedward recorded a mashup of
"Under Pressure" and "Ice Ice Baby" as their debut single.
"Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)" was released in the United
Kingdom on January 31, 2010 via download and as a physical
single on February 15, 2010. Vanilla Ice will rap a part on his
own and also with Jedward in the song.