Vanilla Ice is one of my heroes. A lot of people think this is an error in judgement on my part. (My wife for example, is one of those people). However, to explain my views on Vanilla Ice I’ll tell you a little bit about him.
Vanilla Ice, otherwise known as Robert Matthew Van Winkle is a rapper who scored a huge billboard hit back in the 1990s with his song “Ice Ice Baby”. The ditty was the first rap song to reach #1 on the top 40 charts. It sold nearly 11 million albums, and ensured Vanilla’s place in history.
It was later alleged that Van Winkle had fabricated aspects of his image and to had stolen tracks for “Ice Ice Baby”. This lead to his rejection by the mainstream rap community and widespread ridicule by the public. After a failed comeback, Van Winkle fell into drug use, a deep depression and attempted suicide. More recently he’s made a number of television appearances and has started to rebuild his image and popularity. Its all in wikipedia if you want to learn more.
My grade for Vanilla: A +.
Why give the top grade to a rapper who has seen better days? Two reasons. First, Vanilla is financially prudent. He’s put a lot of his money into real estate development using an LLC. Check out his interview on bankrate.com. He also owns a store marketing motor cross equipment. Most recently he’s done spot for Turbo Tax, which I think reflects reflects his savvyness when it comes to finance. A lot of musicians, like Michael Jackson, haven’t been prudent with their money.
Second, I like his persistence. After being the brunt of so much public ridicule, a lot of guys would give up and moved to a remote section of Alaska to hide. Not Ice, he’s still making music and has managed to work on several interesting projects with artists like Coolio and the Digital Underground.
All in all, I’m awarding a grade of A to Van Winkle for being financially prudent and for being persistent in building his image and musical style.
Best,
James
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