It's definitely an amusing minute of youtube video seeing Vanilla Ice apologize for his hit song and iconic symbol of hip hop selloutdom, "Ice Ice Baby". But while I appreciate the chuckle, at the risk of sounding a little spacey-hippie negroish I also think we sometimes undersell the power and, um, profundity of pop songs; yes, even those most revolting yak-bomb one-hit wonders on the playlist.And in the case of Mr. Ice, if you go along with the hip-hop-and-obama-have-a-symbiotic-relationship theme that is being explored by most of mainstream media then, like crack, one has to eventually stop giggling and afford the man his proper respects: 1. You go and sell 40 million copies of anything. 2. That Robert Van Winkle can argue himself as hip hop's first pop star, and the song might be the genre's top seller should be worthy of at least a day of discussion in a college classroom. Not to say the class can't start with the obligatory jokes -- there might even be one or two that haven't been made yet -- but remember this Robert Van Winkle fellow is not a sketch character. He's like kinda-sorta important. *swallows lump in throat* And Ice Ice Baby is, like, a kinda-sorta cultural touchstone. Something to consider before we stop, collaborate and listen, knahmean?
it's true: deep down in places they don't talk about at parties they want Vanilla Ice on that wall; THEY NEED Vanilla ice on that wall!
ReplyDeletethat is arguably the funniest thing i've read in 2009.
ReplyDeleteSo Vanilla Ice for president, Hammer for secretary of state?
ReplyDeleteIs that where he lives? I thought he was broke. If he's still rich he needs to be apologizing.
ReplyDeleteI must admit...I listened to Ice Ice Baby back in the day...and Ninja Rap...and I secretly still like them both!
ReplyDeletewhat's Ninja Rap?
ReplyDeletemakes me think that I'm a little surprised no one really took off and ran with being the Ninja Rapper. Like in a serious non-cheese way; where they do actual cult-stealth sneak attacks on crews they beef with, and never show their face etc. The whole ninja culture seems more in line with traditional hip hop ideals moreso than the hyped-up italian gangster culture...
Ninja Rap was the song Vanilla Ice wrote for the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. He even has a cameo in the movie where he performs the song in a club. It starts off with:
ReplyDeleteYo! It's the green machine, gonna rock the town without being seen!
The chorus is basically Vanilla Ice rap go ninja, go ninja, go over and over again...it's surprisingly catchy!