3
“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.