1. Vanilla Ice is credited with breaking down racial barriers in rap and hip-hop for future white rappers, most notably Eminem.
89 Facts About Vanilla Ice
1. 2.
Vanilla Ice was offered and starred in his own film, Cool as Ice, which included the single "Cool as Ice " with Naomi Campbell; the film itself was a box office failure.
3.
Vanilla Ice's fast rise in popularity was quickly marred by media controversies about his background, and criticism about his appeal of hip hop to a mainstream audience alongside MC Hammer.
4.
Vanilla Ice later regretted his business arrangements with SBK, who had published fabricated biographical information without his knowledge.
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Vanilla Ice is involved in motocross racing and real estate.
6.
When Vanilla Ice's stepfather was offered a better job in Carrollton, Texas, he moved back to Texas with his mother.
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Vanilla Ice used his beatboxing and breakdancing skills as a street performer with his friends at local malls during this time.
8.
Vanilla Ice won the crowd over and was asked by City Lights manager John Bush if he wanted to perform regularly, which he accepted.
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Vanilla Ice would be joined on stage by his disc jockeys D-Shay and Zero, as well as Earthquake, the local disc jockey at City Lights.
10.
In January 1987, Vanilla Ice was stabbed five times during a scuffle outside of City Lights.
11.
Quon saw commercial potential in Vanilla Ice's rapping and dancing skills.
12.
Vanilla Ice branched out into the film industry with an appearance in the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, which he later called "one of the coolest experiences" of his career.
13.
Vanilla Ice was very secretive about his personal life, with the intention of protecting his family.
14.
Vanilla Ice received a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star.
15.
In late 1991, Vanilla Ice appeared in the Circus of the Stars and Sideshow, driving his motorcycle through a wall of fire.
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Vanilla Ice served as a spokesperson for Nike and Coca-Cola throughout 1991 and 1992.
17.
In 1993, Vanilla Ice toured Eastern Europe again and premiered songs off his upcoming album in St Petersburg, Russia in front of President Boris Yeltsin.
18.
Vanilla Ice then began work on his next album, although by this time he received less publicity and faded from the public spotlight.
19.
On March 22,1994, Vanilla Ice released his second studio album, Mind Blowin'.
20.
At around this time, Vanilla Ice began using ecstasy, cocaine and heroin.
21.
Vanilla Ice attempted suicide with a heroin overdose on July 4,1994, but was revived by his friends.
22.
Uncertain about his future career, Vanilla Ice studied real estate and started working on the side renovating and selling houses.
23.
Vanilla Ice did guest vocals with no stage name for the song "Boom" by Bloodhound Gang on their CD One Fierce Beer Coaster.
24.
Vanilla Ice later developed a friendship with producer Ross Robinson, who had become known for producing music by Deftones, Korn, Limp Bizkit and Sepultura.
25.
Vanilla Ice decided against changing his stage name, as he felt no need to run from his past, despite being uneasy with some of it, and started performing again, booking a hundred shows a year.
26.
Vanilla Ice attracted a whole new audience when he started touring again, some who were even unfamiliar with his more mainstream sound.
27.
In promotion of Hard to Swallow, Vanilla Ice toured with a seven-piece live band which included future Weezer bassist Scott Shriner.
28.
Vanilla Ice said that writing the songs and performing them were like therapy, as he had tried to hide his anger when making his older songs but Robinson was the first producer who told him to use it to create.
29.
Vanilla Ice was a member of the softball team The Hip Hop Stars alongside Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and Method Man in a 1999 game shown on MTV Rock N' Jock.
30.
Later in 1999, MTV asked Vanilla Ice to join their cast to "retire" the music video for "Ice Ice Baby" on the MTV special 25 Lame, in which Ice himself was asked to destroy the video's master tape.
31.
When Vanilla Ice was given a baseball bat, he ended up destroying not only the film but the show's entire set as well.
32.
In 2001, DJ ReAnimator remixed "Ice Ice Baby" with Vanilla Ice re-doing his vocals for the track.
33.
Bianca Halstead bonded with Vanilla Ice and asked if he wanted to contribute a rap interlude to their track Size Queen.
34.
In July 2001, Vanilla Ice performed at the second Gathering of the Juggalos.
35.
Around this time, Vanilla Ice returned to the world of motocross.
36.
Vanilla Ice auditioned for the 2002 X Games in the freestyle division and placed seventh at the 2003 Suzuki Crossover challenge, according to Sports Illustrated.
37.
In 2003, Vanilla Ice contributed vocals to "Off the Chain" by 7x70, a side project of Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain and Anthrax guitarist Dan Spitz.
38.
From January to February 2004, Vanilla Ice appeared on the reality television series The Surreal Life.
39.
Vanilla Ice stated that the title of the album reflected the fact that he could maintain a fanbase without mainstream airplay.
40.
Vanilla Ice included a song titled Ninja Rap 2, which was set to be a hardcore remix.
41.
In 2007, Vanilla Ice returned to a spin-off of The Surreal Life titled The Surreal Life: Fame Games, where he again trashed the set after being voted off.
42.
Vanilla Ice was a special musical guest at the 2010 National Television Awards in January, performing with Jedward for their remix and debut single "Under Pressure ".
43.
Vanilla Ice recorded his verse for their album Planet Jedward and appeared in the music video.
44.
Vanilla Ice was a part of The Back2Kool concert tour with Turbo B and MC Hammer, playing worldwide in late 2010, and reunited with his former DJ, Floyd 'Earthquake' Brown, for the shows overseas.
45.
In early 2011, Vanilla Ice appeared on the sixth season of the UK show Dancing on Ice, as well as various ice skating tours surrounding the show.
46.
In June 2011, Vanilla Ice filmed a role in the movie That's My Boy, starring Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg,.
47.
In December 2011, Vanilla Ice played Captain Hook in the Chatham, Kent, Central Theatre pantomime production of Peter Pan, a role that previously belonged to Henry Winkler.
48.
Vanilla Ice turned on the Christmas lights for Rochester, Kent, in Rochester Castle, as part of the promotion for the panto.
49.
On May 12,2012, Vanilla Ice helped in the launch of the Mr Freeze Reverse Blast roller coaster at Six Flags over Texas in Arlington with a free concert for valid daily park ticket or 2012 Season Pass holders.
50.
In mid 2013, Vanilla Ice joined the New Kids on the Block tour alongside Boyz II Men.
51.
On September 15,2013, Vanilla Ice performed at the halftime show of a Houston Texans game.
52.
Vanilla Ice had a non-speaking cameo in another Netflix movie; Sandy Wexler.
53.
In 2016, Vanilla Ice competed on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars.
54.
On September 16,2017, Vanilla Ice joined Insane Clown Posse in a free concert, the Juggalo March On Washington.
55.
Between 2015 and 2016, Vanilla Ice was one of the main headliners for the worldwide 'I Love the 90s Tour'.
56.
On December 31,2020, Vanilla Ice was the star attraction at a New Year's Eve party at President Trump's mansion Mar-a-Lago.
57.
In June 2021, Vanilla Ice narrated a BBC Radio 5 Live documentary podcast covering the theft of the racehorse Shergar.
58.
Vanilla Ice describes himself as a "Juggalo", a fan of Psychopathic Records hip hop groups.
59.
In 2013, Vanilla Ice stated that he has Choctaw heritage through his maternal grandmother.
60.
In 2015, after Vanilla Ice repeated his claim of Choctaw identity in response to criticisms of Native American portrayals in The Ridiculous 6, Choctaw genealogists researched his family tree, finding his maternal genealogy to be mostly German, with no Choctaw ancestry possible.
61.
In 1990, Vanilla Ice was threatened with copyright infringement for use of samples from "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie.
62.
On June 3,1991, Ice was arrested in Los Angeles on firearm charges after threatening a homeless man, James N Gregory, with a pistol.
63.
In January 2001, Vanilla Ice was arrested by police in Davie, Florida, for assaulting his wife, Laura.
64.
Vanilla Ice admitted to pulling hair from her head to prevent her from jumping out of the truck's window.
65.
Vanilla Ice pled guilty to charges of disorderly conduct four months later and was sentenced to probation and ordered to attend family therapy sessions.
66.
Vanilla Ice paid a $220 fine for expired pet tags and an undisclosed fine for the escape of the animals.
67.
Vanilla Ice was released the following day, after she declared that her husband had only pushed her.
68.
Vanilla Ice was ordered by a Florida court to stay away from his wife following his arrest, and to communicate with his children only if Morales accompanied him.
69.
In February 2015, Vanilla Ice was arrested and charged with residential burglary and grand theft after he allegedly stole furniture, a pool heater, bicycles and other items from a Florida home that he believed to be vacant.
70.
Vanilla Ice later accepted a plea deal which would result in the charges being dropped following his completion of 100 hours of community service and payment of restitution to the estate of the homeowner.
71.
Vanilla Ice stated that his musical style was influenced by underground music, rather than mainstream music, and that his influences included hip hop and funk artists such as Funkadelic, Rick James, Roger Troutman, Egyptian Lover and Parliament.
72.
Vanilla Ice is a big fan of 50's and 60's reggae and Bob Marley's work and has stated that he enjoys Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, and System of a Down.
73.
Vanilla Ice sometimes plays bass, drums and keyboards on studio recordings.
74.
Vanilla Ice referred to his mainstream music as "above-ground" rather than underground, as he tried to make danceable beats and removed expletives so that the songs could reach a wider audience.
75.
Rapper Riff Raff has mentioned in interviews that Vanilla Ice was one of his biggest influences.
76.
Rapper G-Child, best known for her appearance on ego trip's The Rapper Show, has credited Vanilla Ice as being a major influence on her work.
77.
In 1998, Vanilla Ice expressed regret over the record deal that led to the success of his debut album.
78.
The song's music video featured Henry Rollins as Vanilla Ice, who is depicted as being assaulted by 3rd Bass.
79.
Vanilla Ice responded to "Pop Goes the Weasel" with his 1992 song "The Wrath".
80.
Vanilla Ice answered back to most of his critics in the song "Hit 'em Hard".
81.
Vanilla Ice responded in a magazine interview with Vibe saying that Eminem "raps like a girl".
82.
In November 2023, Vanilla Ice told VladTV that Eminem would be "stupid" to not acknowledge his influence on him.
83.
Vanilla Ice appears as a video game character in Championship Motocross released in 2001 on PlayStation 2.
84.
In March 2009, Vanilla Ice participated in a Virgin Mobile advertising campaign titled "Right Music Wrongs", apologizing for his 1990s image.
85.
Vanilla Ice appeared in a commercial for the South African light beer Castle Lite.
86.
In 2010, Vanilla Ice was featured on the debut single of the Irish duo Jedward, a mashup of "Under Pressure" and "Ice Ice Baby".
87.
The music video and song feature various references to Vanilla Ice, including the performers dancing next to a graffiti mural of Ice.
88.
In 2021, Vanilla Ice was part of a Samsung eco advertising campaign featuring a remixed version of "Ice Ice Baby".
89.
Vanilla Ice makes an appearance in the 2023 video game Crime Boss: Rockay City as both an antagonist and playable character as an unlockable skin.