Vanilla Ice Biography

Vanilla Ice was born Robert Matthew Van Winkle in 1967 in Texas. As a teenager, Vanilla Ice found himself enthralled with hip-hop music, rap, and breakdancing; his iconic breakthrough song, “Ice Ice Baby” was actually written when he was only sixteen years old. It would be another few years before Vanilla Ice would break through in the music business, however, since his late teen years were occupied with a successful motocross career, earning him multiple Grand National Championships.

After an injury prevented Ice from racing for a while, he once again turned his attention to music. Once evening during a visit to a nightclub, he took the stage on a dare and blew the audience away with his talents. The success of the evening led to a regular gig, which also helped Vanilla Ice form some crucial relationships that would eventually led to his breakthrough. Ice often opened performances for the likes of 2 Live Crew, N.W.A., Public Enemy, and Tone Loc, and it wasn’t long before the buzz about his talents began to spread.

In 1987, Vanilla Ice signed a management contract with Tommy Quon. The two purchased enough studio time for Ice to record some of his music over a period of two years, and the result was Vanilla Ice’s debut, Hooked, released in 1989. The album spawned the hit singles “Ice Ice Baby” and “Play that Funky Music,” and although they were slow to catch on, they would eventually secure Vanilla Ice as a superstar. The debut album was eventually retitled To the Extreme, and re-recorded and remixed after Vanilla Ice signed with SBK Records in 1990. The album went on to become the fastest selling hip-hop album of the time, reaching the top of the charts, selling eleven million copies, and earning Vanilla Ice American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop New Artist.

Despite professional and legal disputes, coupled with a number of years in which he battled drug addiction and personal demons, Vanilla Ice has released a number of successful albums in his career, including: Mind Blowin’ (1994), Hard to Swallow (1998), Bi-Polar (2001), Bomb tha System (2003), Platinum Underground (2005), Vanilla Ice is Back! (2008), Wisdom, and Tenacity and Focus (2011.) He has also appeared in a number of films, including: Cool as Ice (1991), The New Guy (2003), The Helix… Loaded (2005), Big Money Rustlas (2010), and That’s My Boy (2012.) In 2009 Vanilla Ice began a highly successful television series on the DIY network, titled The Vanilla Ice Project, in which he custom restores homes in the south Florida area. In conjunction with the project, he published the book Vanilla Ice Project – Real Estate Guide.

Vanilla Ice continues to perform and record in addition to filming his television series and other projects. His legacy includes the achievement of being among the earliest white rappers to achieve significant crossover success.