"Ice Ice Baby" is the debut single by American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in Dallas, raised in Miami, he was the first solo white rapper to achieve commercial success foll ...

. It samples the

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of the song "

Under Pressure "Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's tenth studio album ''Hot Space'' (1982). The song reached number one on the U ...

" by British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

and British singer

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, 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 Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

version appears on the album '' Hard to Swallow'', under the title "Too Cold". "Ice Ice Baby" was first released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to Vanilla Ice's cover of " Play That Funky Music", but the single was not initially successful. When disc jockey David Morales 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. The song topped the charts in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the UK and Germany.

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 South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

. The lyrics describe a 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 Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

. 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'." The song's hook samples the

of the 1981 song "

" by

and

, who did not receive credit or

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

for the sample. In a 1990 interview, Van Winkle claimed the two melodies were slightly different because he had added an additional note on the "and" of the fourth beat. 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. After representatives for Queen and Bowie threatened a

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

suit against him, the matter was settled out of court, with Van Winkle being required to pay financial recompense to the original artists. Bowie and all members of Queen were also given songwriting credit for the sample. "Ice Ice Baby" is written in the key of

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed ...

. In December 1990, Van Winkle told British youth music magazine ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' 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 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.

Release

"Ice Ice Baby" was initially released by

Ichiban Records Ichiban Records was an American independent record label, founded in 1985 by John Abbey and Nina Easton in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. History Wrap Records and Nastymix Records were some of its subsidiary labels. Urgent! Records and Mr. Hen ...

as the

to Van Winkle's cover of " Play That Funky Music". The

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compa ...

featured the

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

and

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

versions of "Play That Funky Music" and the radio version and "Miami Drop"

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

of "Ice Ice Baby". When a disc jockey named David Morales 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 $5000. The video was financed by Van Winkle's manager, Tommy Quon, and shot on the roof of a warehouse in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, 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 SBK Records was a record label, owned by Universal Music Group, that is currently part of the Capitol Music Group, where it is in hibernation. The label was founded in 1988 and during its time in activity existed as part of the EMI Group. Hist ...

in the United States, and

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

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.

Reception

"Ice Ice Baby" garnered critical acclaim, was the first hip hop single to top the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

, and has been credited for helping diversify hip hop by introducing it to a mainstream audience.

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

'' commented, "Photogenic white rapper rocks impressively over a sparse beat-bed that borrows heavily from

's "

". Could pack a powerful multiformat punch." The Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen said it "did more for overexposure than

New Coke New Coke was the unofficial name of a reformulation of the soft drink Coca-Cola, introduced by the Coca-Cola Company in April 1985. It was renamed Coke II in 1990, and discontinued in July 2002. By 1985, Coca-Cola had been losing market share to ...

did for

soft drinks A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) carbonated, and typically including added sweetener. Flavors used to be natural, but now can also be artificial. The sweet ...

". ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' reviewer Mim Udovitch wrote that " anilla Iceprobably 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

's "Under Pressure" — grabs you and flings you out onto the dance floor." Selina Webb from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' said, "Equally lacking in originality yet holding the same commercial appeal". She added, "The catchy part is borrowed from Queen's "Under Pressure", the vocal is a cool white rap. Slightly more street cred than the New Kids, yet falling squarely into the same huge market." A reviewer from ''The Network Forty'' said that "like

Mellow Man Ace Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (born April 12, 1967), better known as Mellow Man Ace, is a Cuban-American rapper known for bilingual delivery and novelty rhymes. He was born in Cuba and moved to Los Angeles with his family at the age of four. Early life ...

, the rap melts slowly and is as much a mood piece as it is a cruising tune. A

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

champion from

via

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, the 22-year-old Ice says it's time to chill out." Stephen Dalton from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' complimented it as a "catchy pop thumper". Following the song's success, California rapper Mario "Chocolate" Johnson, an associate of record producer

Suge Knight Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. ( ; born April 19, 1965) is an American former record executive, former National Football League, NFL player, and convicted felon, who is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight was a central f ...

, claimed that he had helped in writing the song, and had not received credit or royalties. Knight and two bodyguards arrived at The Palm in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

, 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'?" 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 The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...

. 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.

Legacy

Detroit-based rapper

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

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." 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. 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

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

that Van Winkle is best known for internationally, although Van Winkle states that his American fans like his newer music better. According to ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', 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 anilla Icepaid 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." A live version of the song appeared on the album '' Extremely Live''. "Ice Ice Baby" was rerecorded in a

version titled "Too Cold". Originally intended to be released as a

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...

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.

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

and ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer (from Latin ''mixus, the PPP of miscere eng. to Mix)'' or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary ...

'' ranked "Ice Ice Baby" fifth on its list of the "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever". It was also given the distinction by the ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown Houston, Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely ...

'' as being the worst song ever to emanate from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. 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. However, in December 2007, VH1 ranked the song in 29th place of their 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's. In November 2011, MTV Dance ranked "Ice Ice Baby" No. 71 in their list of "The 100 Biggest 90's Dance Anthems of All Time". In 2019, ''

'' listed it at No. 108 in their ranking of "''Billboard''s Top Songs of the '90s". In 1991,

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

released a cover version entitled "Ice Ice Alvin" for their album '' The Chipmunks Rock the House''.

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...

included the chorus as the final song in " Polka Your Eyes Out", the polka medley from his 1992 album '' Off the Deep End''. In 2004, the song was featured in the film '' 13 Going on 30''. In 2010, the song was featured in the ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

'' episode " Bad Reputation" as performed by

Will Schuester William Michael Schuester, often referred to as Mr. Schue, is a fictional teacher character and one of the two main protagonists from the Fox musical comedy-drama series ''Glee'', alongside his student Rachel Berry. He appeared in ''Glee'' fro ...

(

Matthew Morrison Matthew James Morrison (born October 30, 1978) is an American actor, dancer, and singer, best known for his role as Will Schuester on the Fox television show ''Glee'' (2009–2015). He has starred in multiple Broadway and off-Broadway produ ...

). In 2012, several references to the song were made in the film ''That's My Boy'', where Van Winkle guest-starred as himself – Donny Berger (

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

), an old friend of Van Winkle, asks him for money, claiming he should be "loaded" with the royalties he receives from the song; however, Van Winkle tells him that "Queen took 50 percent, Suge took the other 60 percent, I fucking owe money when that shit gets played, man!" Later on, Berger and Van Winkle drive in Van Winkle's Ford Mustang 5.0, a reference to the car he drove in the music video (but not the same car), then listen to the song on Van Winkle's

Walkman is a brand of Personal stereo, portable audio players manufactured by Sony since 1979. It was originally introduced as a portable Compact Cassette, cassette player and later expanded to include a range of portable audio products. Since 2011, ...

as they run.

Track listings

1990 release

* 7" single # "Ice Ice Baby" (radio mix) – 4:29 # "Ice Ice Baby" (radio mix edit) – 3:49 * 12" maxi – US # "Ice Ice Baby" (radio mix) – 4:28 # "Ice Ice Baby" (Miami drop mix) – 4:59 # "Play That Funky Music" (radio mix) – 4:39 # "Play That Funky Music" (instrumental mix) – 4:36 # "Play That Funky Music" (a cappella mix) – 4:32 * 12" maxi / CD maxi – US # "Ice Ice Baby" (radio mix) – 4:28 # "Ice Ice Baby" (Miami drop mix) – 4:59 # "Ice Ice Baby" (Miami drop instrumental) – 4:59 # "Ice Ice Baby" (a cappella mix) – 3:46 # "Play That Funky Music" (radio mix) – 4:39 # "Play That Funky Music" (instrumental mix) – 4:36 # "Play That Funky Music" (a cappella mix) – 4:32 * CD maxi – Europe # "Ice Ice Baby" (radio edit) – 3:46 # "Ice Ice Baby" (Miami drop mix) – 5:00 # "Play That Funky Music" (radio mix) – 4:41 * 12" maxi – Europe # "Ice Ice Baby" (club mix) – 5:02 # "Ice Ice Baby" (radio mix) – 4:30 # "Ice Ice Baby" (radio mix edit) – 3:49 * 12" maxi – UK # "Ice Ice Baby" (Miami drop mix) – 4:58 # "Ice Ice Baby" (instrumental mix) – 4:59 # "It's a Party" – 4:39 # "Ice Ice Baby" (radio mix) – 4:28 * Cassette # "Ice Ice Baby" (radio edit) – 3:46 # "It's a Party" – 4:39 # "Ice Ice Baby" (radio edit) – 3:46 # "It's a Party" – 4:39 * German CD maxi # "Ice Ice Baby" (Miami Drop Mix) # "Ice Ice Baby" (Acapella Mix) # "Ice Ice Baby" (Miami Drop Mix Instrumental) # "Play That Funky Music" (Acapella Mix)

2001 remixes

* 12" maxi # "Ice Ice Baby 2001" (Gigi D'Agostino remix) – 7:17 # "Ice Ice Baby 2001" (Funky 9ers club dub) – 4:53 # "Ice Ice Baby 2001" (House of Wax club-mix) – 6:06 # "Ice Ice Baby 2001" (Debart Style re-e-mix) – 6:42 * CD maxi # "Ice Ice Baby 2001" (House of Wax radio-mix) – 3:36 # "Ice Ice Baby 2001" (Gigi D'Agostino remix-edit) – 3:45 # "Ice Ice Baby 2001" (Silverwater & Shaw remix) – 3:42 # "Ice Ice Baby 2001" (Prepay remix) – 3:54 # "Ice Ice Baby 2001" (Steve Baltes remix) – 3:53 # "Everytime (album version) (feat. 4BY4) – 3:58

2008 remixes

* 12" maxi # "Ice Ice Baby 2008" (Mondo Electro remix) # "Ice Ice Baby 2008" (7th Heaven House remix) # "Ice Ice Baby 2008" (Rico NL Jumpstyle remix) # "Ice Ice Baby 2008" (Mendezz and Andrew remix)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Good article 1989 songs 1990 singles Vanilla Ice songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Zimbabwe Irish Singles Chart number-one singles UK singles chart number-one singles Sampling controversies Songs written by Vanilla Ice Songs written by Freddie Mercury Songs written by Brian May Songs written by John Deacon Songs written by Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) Songs written by David Bowie Songs involved in royalties controversies SBK Records singles EMI Records singles Songs about Miami