His first album, 1990’s “To the Extreme,” featured the breakthrough single “Ice Ice Baby,” as well as a rendition of “Play That Funky Music.” When it was released in 1993, “Ice Ice Baby” became the first hip hop hit to top the Billboard Hot 100.
Vanilla Ice Early Life
Robert Matthew Van Winkle (as Vanilla Ice) was born in Dallas, Texas on October 31st, 1967. When he was born, his mother was still married to a man named Van Winkle. Van Winkle’s mother left that man when he was four years old. He was raised without ever meeting his father. Van Winkle spent his childhood going back and forth between Dallas, where his mother lived, and Miami, where his stepfather worked as a car salesman when his mother remarried.
At the age of 13, Van Winkle discovered hip hop and began his education in breakdancing. Being the only white boy in the group, his buddies dubbed him “Vanilla Ice” for his unique style of breakdancing. Even though he disliked the moniker, it remained. A short time afterwards, he began competing as “MC Vanilla” in rap fights at social gatherings. When Van Winkle moved to Texas, he started a breakdancing crew there. When he penned “Ice Ice Baby,” he was only 16.
Ice completed his high school education in 1985 and immediately began racing motocross. After winning three titles and seriously considering a future in the sport, he suffered a broken ankle in a competition and lost interest. When he sprained his ankle, he decided to put the time to good use by practising his dance routines. Initially, he performed beatboxing and breakdancing as a street performer in shopping centres.
A friend had dared him to take part in the open mic night at City Lights, so one night he decided to go there and give it a go. The club management asked Ice if he wanted to become a regular performer there because the crowd loved him so much. It was a yes from Ice. As a performer at City Lights, he opened for a wide variety of artists, including N.W.A., Public Enemy, 2 Live Crew, Tone Loc, Paula Abdul, and more.
In early 1987, a scuffle outside a nightclub resulted in five stab wounds for Ice. He spent 10 days in the hospital. A further two years later, he served as the tour’s opening act for Ice-T, Sir Mix-A-Lot, and others as part of the Stop the Violence Tour.
Vanilla Ice Career
The Stop the Violence Tour was where his manager first met Ice, and it was then that he and Ice got to collaborate on a demo tape. Singles “Play that Funky Music” (A-side) and “Ice Ice Baby” (B-side) were issued by independent label Ichiban Records in 1989. It was “Play That Funky Music” that the DJ at a Georgia radio station had intended to play when he accidentally played “Ice Ice Baby.” Hearing “Ice Ice Baby,” the crowd went absolutely wild.
Ice Ice Baby was a smashing success. Then, one night, Van Winkle was eating at the same West Hollywood restaurant as rapper Suge Knight and his security guards. Guards for Knight and himself took seats at Ice’s table. Later that night, Knight visited Van Winkle in his room on the 15th floor of the London Hotel (formerly the Bel Age Hotel) on Sunset Boulevard. Ice’s memory serves us correctly.
If he didn’t sign the rights to “Ice, Ice Baby,” Knight threatened to hurl him off the balcony. Van Winkle did really surrender his ownership. In order to start Death Row Records, Knight spent that cash. To the Extreme, Van Winkle’s first album, has broken records for hip-hop album sales velocity. For a total of 16 weeks, this record dominated the album charts. After “Mind Blowin'” in 1994, “Hard to Swallow” in 1998, “Bi-Polar” in 2001, “Platinum Underground” in 2005, and “W.T.F.”
in 2011, Van Winkle continued to put out studio albums. He also released a cover album in 2008 titled “Vanilla Ice is Back.” Musically, Vanilla Ice’s “Ninja Rap” was included in the film “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze” and was featured on the film’s soundtrack. While starring in the critically panned 1991 film “Cool As Ice,” he was paid a cool $1 million. In later years, Vanilla made an appearance on season two of “The Surreal Life.”
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He has been starring in “The Vanilla Ice Project” on the DIY Network since 2010. Throughout the series, we watch as Ice performs house flips in Florida. There have been nine seasons of the show as of 2019.
Vanilla Ice Personal Life
Between 1991 and 1992, Vanilla Ice dated Madonna for a total of eight months. On July 4, 1994, Ice attempted suicide by taking a heroin overdose, but he was saved by his friends. While living in Florida in 1995, Ice took a break from music to pursue motocross and jet skiing. Over the course of the summer, Ice raced her jet ski virtually every weekend and rose to the No. 6 spot in the world, winning a sponsorship from Kawasaki. Both Dusti Rain (born in 1998) and KeeLee Breeze (born in 2000) are the daughters of Ice and his wife Laura Giaritta (born 2000).
Vanilla Ice Divorce and financial status
His average monthly salary is $68,000 (approximately $800,000 yearly), according to paperwork submitted by his wife of 21 years, Laura, in connection with their divorce in November 2018. We also found out that Ice owns 15 homes, 8 vehicles, and a boat, with a total value of roughly $5 million, and that he has $3 million in liquid assets. Depending on current market conditions and property values, his property portfolio might be worth significantly more.
Based on this evidence, the judge has ordered Ice to pay $121,000 in back child support payments plus $10,000 per month in additional instalments until a permanent agreement is reached.
Vanilla Ice Real Estate
#USA #HappyIndependenceDay #Lubbuck #Texas #HappyFourthOfJuly #4thOnBroadway pic.twitter.com/cdFAJ533rw
— Vanilla Ice (@vanillaice) July 4, 2022
Vanilla Ice listed his home in Melbourne Beach, Florida, for $4.8 million in 2018. In The Vanilla Ice Project, a house on the water is shown to have 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
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