Ice Ice Baby
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| “Ice Ice Baby” | ||
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| Single by Vanilla Ice from the album To The Extreme |
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| Released | 1990 | |
| Format | 12", CD, cassette single | |
| Genre | Pop rap | |
| Length | 4:32 | |
| Label | SBK Records | |
| Writer(s) | Vanilla Ice, Earthquake and M. Smooth | |
| Producer | Vanilla Ice | |
| Audio sample | ||
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"Ice Ice Baby" is rapper Vanilla Ice's most famous and popular song, released from his album To The Extreme. "Ice Ice Baby" was the second rap single ever to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, after Blondie's 1981 single "Rapture." The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1991 but lost to MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This". The single, released by SBK Records, sold 15 million copies.[citation needed] The song was the first Billboard Hot 100 #1 single to not have an American release on a vinyl 45 during its initial chart run. The song also reached #1 in the UK, becoming one of the first rap singles there to do so. It is also labeled as #5 on Blender magazine's list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever".[1]
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[edit] Controversy
Vanilla Ice drew controversy by claiming that he owed no royalties for using a bass line similar to "Under Pressure", citing one minor alteration. Although no lawsuit was ever filed, the rapper supposedly settled out of court, and songwriting credit was retroactively given to the members of Queen and David Bowie.[2] This song also brought troubles for him years later, when convicted felon and famous CEO of Death Row Records Suge Knight claimed his friend had written the lyrics to the song, and allegedly dangled him by the ankles over the balcony to get royalties from the song. Vanilla Ice has verified and denied this claim many times, first telling of it, then telling a toned-down version which involved him talking to Suge Knight calmly.[citation needed] He later said he has no regrets of the incident, because he claims it helped fund Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur.[citation needed] On 14th November 2007 he again claimed on Sydney radio station 2Day FM's Kyle and Jackie-O morning breakfast show, that he was not dangled by the ankles over the balcony.
[edit] Response
Despite the song's success, Eminem has claimed that the song almost turned him off to rap music altogether, although this may or may not have been a ploy to defuse the many comparisons between the two artists.
[edit] Remixes and Covers
"Ice Ice Baby" was remade several times by Vanilla Ice himself. "The Wrath," which is the fourth track on 1994's Mind Blowin, pays subtle homage to the aforementioned superhit. The chorus changes "ice ice baby" to "ice ice, man" and also used female moans in an "uh uh, baby" effect. In 1998, the song was remade/re-imagined, this time as "Too Cold." This version was significantly more true to the original lyrically (though one verse is omitted). The music, on the other hand, was consistent with the rap-metal form of the entire Hard to Swallow album. Commonly attributed influences of the album include to early works by Korn and Limp Bizkit. Finally, in 2005, Vanilla Ice re-recorded the song for a third time on Platinum Underground. This version was the most accurate remake. The tempo is increased, but the lyrics, the music, and the beat of the original is for the most part intact.
The song was parodied by Mark Jonathan Davis in a song called "Rice Rice Baby", often misattributed to Weird Al Yankovic. However, Yankovic did include a portion of the lyrics to this song in "Polka Your Eyes Out". In 2001, the song was remixed by the German Eurotrance act Reanimator and released as a 4-track single Ice Ice Baby 2001 by Noise Maker label. The remake used original vocals by Vanilla Ice. Italian trance superstar Gigi D'Agostino worked on one of the remixes, and his version entered dance charts across the European continent.
In 2006, it was covered by Crazy Frog on the album Crazy Frog Presents More Crazy Hits. That year, Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine also covered "Ice Ice Baby" in a smooth lounge music form on the album Silent Nightclub. Also in 2006, German singer Sha released JaJa, her debut single and a cover version of the song with new German lyrics.
On May 19,2007, unsigned artists Unheard Concept released a hard rock remake of the track on their Myspace page.
In January 2007, Madagascar 5 released a remake in Europop style. In April 2007, a new remake of the song was released by Reanimator vs Big Daddy Vanilla Ice as Ice Ice Baby (Get On The Floor) and included several house and salsa/house remixes. In December 2007, yet another remake was done by Topmodelz. This time around it was done in jumpstyle/hands up trance. In March 2008, Rocco & Base-T released yet another remix, this time in dancecore style.
[edit] Remixes and Other Versions
- Ice Ice Baby [Album Version] 4:29
- Ice Ice Baby [12 Remix] 4:58
- Ice Ice Baby [Acapella Mix] 3:47
- Ice Ice Baby [Club Mix] 4:59
- Ice Ice Baby [Miami Drop Live] 8:57
- Ice Ice Baby [Miami Drop Mix Instrumental] 4:56
- Ice Ice Baby [Miami Drop Mix] 4:57
- Ice Ice Baby [Radio Mix] 3:47
- Ice Ice Baby [Radio Version] 4:28
[edit] In popular culture
- The video for the song made an appearance on Beavis and Butthead, being one of the few that the duo didn't verbally criticize. When the video started, the two simply looked at each other in horror and turned off the television.
- The term "Ice Ice Baby" was often chanted on the American TV show American Gladiators for women's gladiator Ice, who debuted on the show around the same time the song was released.
- "Ice Ice Baby" was heard on several commercials advertising The Santa Clause 3 and Ice Age.
- "Ice Ice Baby" was voted as the 7th greatest one-hit wonder by VH1.
- "Ice Ice Baby" gained the number 29 spot on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s.
- The song was heard on the film 13 Going on 30.
- The song was used for a few years as the entrance music of Professional/Backyard Wrestler Vanilla Ice Cream from WZW ([1]).
- Newcastle Knights Rugby League player Chris Bailey derives his nickname from the song. He is widely known as "Ice Ice Bailey" for his coolness under pressure and slight resemblance to Vanilla Ice.
[edit] Charts
| Chart (1990-1991)[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 3 |
| French Singles Chart | 10 |
| German Singles Chart | 2 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 8 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 4 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 28 |
| US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | 6 |
| US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 6 |
| US ARC Weekly Top 40 | 1 |
| Chart (2004-2005) | Peak position |
| US Billboard Hot Ringtones | 11 |
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
| French Singles Chart | 65 |
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
| US Billboard Hot Ringtones | 32 |
| Preceded by "Black Cat" by Janet Jackson |
ARC Weekly Top 40 number one single November 3, 1990 |
Succeeded by "Love Takes Time" by Mariah Carey |
| Billboard Hot 100 number one single November 3, 1990 |
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| Preceded by "Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers |
UK number-one single November 25, 1990 for 4 weeks |
Succeeded by "Saviour's Day" by Cliff Richard |
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ Run for Your Life! It's the 50 Worst Songs Ever! from Blender.com (Retrieved May 4, 2008)
- ^ Entry for "Ice Ice Baby" (BMI work #699387) in BMI song database
- ^ "Ice Ice Baby", in various Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved March 28, 2008)
- ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved March 28, 2008)
- ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved March 28, 2008)
- ^ Italian Single Chart Hit parade Italia (Retrieved May 30, 2008)
- ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved March 28, 2008)
- ^ Billboard Billboard.com (Retrieved March 28, 2008)
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