I get sick of people claiming that Vanilla Ice ripped off queen and deserve what he "Got with To The Extreme" Hip Hop always was and still is a genre that samples other peoples music. A tribe called quest did it, N.W.A did, MC Hammer did, everybody does it. Its common practise! Eminems first hit "my name is" was also a sample from a different song. The difference is Vanilla Ice was 16 when he wrote the song and the company that signed him didn't get the rights, then everyone makes a big deal about it.
Vanilla Ice has loads of accomplishments! He was nominated for 4 American music awards, he won 2, nominated for a Grammy, Won a "peoples choice award", Won a Juno etc..
I would not argue that he is more skilled lyrically. but he holds his own. Vanilla Ice is an actual musician, He plays bass, guitar, drums and does scratches. Eminem is strictly a talented lyricist, he does play any instruments, does not write music and is has no flair for producing. Vanilla Ice is talented in all areas of Hip Hop, He is a break dancer, beat boxer, producer and does scratches. Vanilla Ice is 100% Hip Hop, all five elements are present in his work. It not fair to compare Eminem on strictly lyrical skills. On the whole Vanilla Ice is a better artist.
Ice has the best live shows in the business and the sickest flow. He know as "being able to rap over anything"
Vanilla Ice has the highest selling Hip Hop Album of all time with forty thousand records sold. He has the fastest selling record of all time. He is not a one hit wonder. "play that funky music" charted as well as "Satisfaction", "Cool As Ice", "Get Wit it", "Ninja Rap", "Rollin in my 5.0" and "Stop that Train"His newest cd "Wisdom, Tenacity, Focus" (which is only available online) just went platinum on Itunes, with next to no promotion.
Vanilla Ice has always been at the forefront of every hip hop trend. His sampling of Queen brought attention to other artists to get permission before sampling, He use of rock samples were years before there time. He sampled the Rolling stones, James brown and AC/DC.
Before Snoop Doggy Dogs break through album, "doggy style" came out Vanilla Ice was touring for two years playing his g-funk infused songs which eventually came out on his cd called "Mind Blowin"
All his disks have been fresh and original music, never copying recent trends but always blazing forward.
He was the one who broke the game open for white rappers, before him, rap labels would never take a chance on white MCs.
Vanilla Ice is also an actor, he has played many small parts over the years and just finished playing captain hook on broadway (where he got rave reviews) and is co-staring on the new Adam Sandler film "Thats my boy"
Little know fact: Vanilla Ice was offered a contract by Def Jam for 50,000, but she signed with SBK for one million.
His down fall was simply the marketing that his label did. He should not have put the MC hammer pants on or allowed his image to be on dolls and lunch boxes.
When he first got started he toured with N.W.A, B.D.P, Public Enemy, Ice T, and others. He dressed totally different and played in black clubs. http://www.finehomeslv.com/las_vegas_nightclubs/gallery-nightclub/ice-t-vanilla-ice-gallery.jpg
Vanilla Ice is legit!
Take a look at a couple of his best songs:
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