Ice Ice Baby Lyrics

[Chorus]
Ice, ice, baby
Vanilla Ice, ice, baby
Vanilla Ice, ice, baby
Vanilla Ice, ice, baby

Vanilla

[Verse 3]
Take heed 'cause I'm a lyrical poet
Miami's on the scene just in case you didn't know it
My town that created all the bass sound
Enough to shake and kick holes in the ground
'Cause my style's like a chemical spill
These are rhymes you can vision and feel
Conducted and formed, this is a hell of a concept
We make it hype and you want to step
With this. Shay plays on the fade
Slice like a ninja, cut like a razor blade
So fast, other DJs say, “Damn!”
If rhyme was a drug I'd sell it by the gram
Keep my composure when it's time to get loose
Magnetized by the mic while I kick my juice
If there was a problem yo I'll solve it
Check out the hook while Deshay revolves it


[Chorus]
Ice ice, baby
Vanilla Ice, ice, baby
Vanilla Ice, ice, baby
Vanilla Ice ice, baby

Vanilla Ice

How to Format Lyrics:

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  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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About

Genius Annotation

“Ice Ice Baby” was originally the flipside to Vanilla Ice’s debut single “Play That Funky Music”. When it was later released as its own single, it became an international smash hit.

After every record company turned Vanilla Ice’s original demos down, Tommy Quon (the owner of the Dallas club City Lights) had the club’s DJ Earthquake produce two tracks for release on his label Ultrax Records. “Play That Funky Music”, based on the 1976 hit of the same name, was the A-side, and “Ice Ice Baby”, based on the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity chant in the film School Daze spoken over Queen’s “Under Pressure”, was the B-side.

A DJ at an FM station in Georgia liked the B-side better and played it on air. Soon it became that station’s #1 requested song, leading stations in Tennessee and Texas to do the same. It also became Video Jukebox’s most requested video. After SBK Records' founder was played the song over the phone, he signed Ice the next day. In August of 1990, his label released “Ice Ice Baby” as the A-side with “Play That Funky Music” as its flipside.

The song began climbing charts around the world, eventually reaching the top 10 in twelve countries – hitting #1 in six of them including the UK and the US (where it became the first chart-topping rap single in history).

That year “Ice Ice Baby” was certified Platinum two months after its release and was ranked the #45 song of 1990 by Billboard. The song was also nominated for a Grammy that year for Best Solo Rap Performance, but lost to MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This”.

Death Row Records' CEO, Suge Knight, learned that Marvin “Chocolate” Johnson, a Death Row signee, was a co-writer on the track, so he invited Ice to his Los Angeles hotel room to negotiate payment. It has been rumored that Vanilla Ice was hung over a balcony during the negotations, but Ice has denied these rumors several times, insisting, “He didn’t have to hang me from no balcony or slap me around or nothing”.

“Ice Ice Baby” contains an uncleared sample of Queen’s “Under Pressure”, so when confronted about it, Ice claimed he’d altered it, but he later admitted he actually hadn’t. The parties settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, and members of Queen, plus the guest vocalist on the original song David Bowie, were also given songwriting credits.

The song is credited for ‘making hip-hop an acceptable genre to mainstream media’ and continues to be popular into the 2000s. It was certified Gold in 2005 for selling 500K digital downloads and named by VH1 the #29 top song of the 90s.

But it also has its share of negative feedback, with MTV ranking it the #9 worst video in history, and Houston Press calling it the worst song to come from Texas. In 2012, actor/comedian Adam Scott discussed the song’s opening lyrics on Conan, pointing out how ridiculous they sound when analyzed.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Vanilla Ice say about "Ice Ice Baby"?
Genius Answer

Why the vanilla at the end of every ice ice baby
Genius Answer

Because his stage name is “Vanilla Ice.”

Credits
Produced By
Back Up Vocals
Overdubs
Performance Rights
Release Date
August 22, 1987
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