VH-1 gets behind the Iceman

Reviewed by JON FASSNACHT
and SCOTT SWINDELLS
Collegian Staff Writers

Although his album sales are cold as ice today, Robert Van Winkle used to heat up the charts as teen sensation Vanilla Ice.

Sunday night, VH-1 premiered its Vanilla Ice episode of the "Behind the Music" series, shining its popular spotlight to melt the myths surrounding the Iceman.

Memorable moments from the hour-long presentation included his early days as a breakdancer nicknamed "Vanilla" and his current comeback with a KORN-y new sound.

But the real roller-coaster ride came in his heyday as the multimillion-selling white-boy rapper with anthems "Ice Ice Baby" and "Play that Funky Music."

Slapped with a slick teenybopper image by record executives hungry for a dollar, Ice lost the identity of his younger years when he wore normal-sized pants and Fila fresh gear.

"I was a puppet," he said. "I was like Jerry Maguire, you know, show me the money and I'll do it."

At this point he also noticed a change in his audience, which had been predominantly black before the image shift.

"And that's at the point when my crowd started changing," Ice said. "There was no more blacks in my crowd, it was (an) all white, young . . . crowd."

The juxtaposition of older interviews with newer ones also reflected a bit of a "growth" in Ice's maturity. In the earlier clips, he was conceited, bratty and hyperactive.

The newer clips spotlighted a dry Ice who rarely raised his voice and seemed somewhat scarred by his past.

"I wouldn't wish my life upon anybody," he said.

If anything, the show portrayed Ice as a family man with a wife, a child and a brand new attitude. His days of big pants and big hair are over, but according to him, his career isn't.

"It's not about an image anymore," he said. "It's about the music. Let the music talk for itself."

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