Vanilla Ice
Vanilla Ice
Robert Matthew Van Winkle, known by his stage name, Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor and television host. Born in South Dallas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, Ice released his debut album, Hooked, in 1989 on Ichiban Records, before signing a contract with SBK Records, a record label of the EMI Group which released a reformatted version of the album under the title To the Extreme. Ice's 1990 single "Ice Ice Baby" was the first hip hop...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRapper
Date of Birth31 October 1967
CityDallas, TX
CountryUnited States of America
It wasn't until '94 when I tried to commit suicide that I realized that it wasn't about the money.
Concerts every night, autograph signings, endorsements, and so on. That's not what real life is about.
I didn't end up going bankrupt... I made some great investments and I held on to my money, which also enables me to have the freedom to do what I want now. But it's not about finances. No matter what, it's about keeping it real.
I just kept it real and had the freedom to do what I want. It's not designed for any age group. It's not made for radio. There are no edits. The whole album contains explicit lyrics but that's because you need it.
I own a mortgage company and a real estate company funded by the music. Florida is a kinda gold mine.
I got caught up on drugs for a few years, I'm off it, I'm very happy, got two kids and a family and everything. And like I said I'm making the underground music, and keeping it real.
Be yourself and enjoy yourself. Show me a smile and I'll show you one back. Karma: Believe in it. It's real. It comes back to you.
People don't understand it's really a hard thing, because I was here in the early '90s and... basically I was gone from over here. I've been doing my thing over in the States, but it's more underground than pop-ish, mainstream-ish, radio-friendly stuff, it's more underground. People have no clue what the hell Vanilla Ice has been up to.
I was playing a record company whore back in the days, a puppet. Everything was staged. I wasn't really designed to be this novelty act; I was turned into one. When I first came out, I was opening for Ice-T, EPMD, and Public Enemy. All of my audience was black.
I don't hate on any artist actually, not on boy bands, on nothing, it's just music and if you enjoy it then enjoy it. I just have my own opinion of what I like and so should everybody else. I don't try and make everybody else believe in my opinion, everybody's born differently you know, God created us all different.
One thing I didn't understand in life was that I had $100,000,000 in the bank and I couldn't buy happiness. I had everything: mansions, yachts, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, but I was depressed. I didn't know where I fitted in. But then I found family and friends and I learned the value of life.
Nobody knew the direction of the album until the very end. It was really amazing because we had no idea what we were going to come up with.
With radio limitations as far as length of songs and content, sometimes if you are being conscious of that then that effects the outcome of a song.
To me, a critic is some loser who has no idea... someone with an opinion. We all have opinions. No offense, but what makes them dictate what is cool and what is not.