It's a true story that Video Killed the Radio Star because music should not be about image. Music should be about the music! I learned the hard way. The new Vanilla Ice is exactly that; no image, no polished made up gimmicks created by record companies. I will never be a puppet for the industry again. From this point on I will keep it real. That's why I didn't change the name. It doesn't mean anything; it's only a label. It's not important, plus I am not running from anything or trying to hide. I want people to know that I face my adversaries. Don't get me wrong, though I love Ice Ice Baby, I just can't stand the image that was created for me at that time. Even though it worked and we sold 17 million records, I was treated like a puppet just to make a Hip Hop artist look like a novelty act. I was not designed to be that. I was turned into that by making my image more acceptable to a younger audience, but to tell the difference just listen to the music. It's Hip Hop not Pop like all the other novelty acts.
The media has a way of glamorizing what it's like to be a celebrity, and that's where people get the illusion, but the reality of it is much different. I'm not speaking from just my own experiences. Take a look at the track record, it speaks for itself, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Elvis, and lately Kurt Cobain. These celebrities had a hard time dealing with the reality of being famous. Many used drugs to escape from reality just as I did. It was the only way to find peace and happiness. The thing was, no matter how high I got I still had to come back reality and face it all again. That's when the depression sets in. That's when you hit rock bottom and you either die from it or learn from it. I used to think that money would bring me happiness because I thought of all the material things that I could buy. After experiencing what it's like to be rich, I realized that you are not born with it and you also can't take it with you when you die. What's next?
In '94 I tried to kill myself by overdosing on heroin, cocaine, esctasy, and anything I could get my hands on. At one point, my friends were dumping buckets of cold water on me as I lay on my bathroom floor in convulsions. At that point I had over eighteen million dollars in the bank, and I still couldn't find happiness in being rich or famous. So, after waking up a couple of days later, I realized that I needed to make a change in everything and just go back to the things that used to bring me happiness, like Motocross. I met new friends and started to straighten my life up, and with the help of my family and my music I found new hope.
Now I have a new outlook on life and music. The music is for myself, not to be rich or famous. The new sound is also much harder and darker because of the issues I am writing about. It caters to a new crowd. It leans toward the body piercing, tattoo crowd aging from 15 to 25: the same crowd that you might find at a Korn, Limp Bizkit or Slipknot show. In fact, it was the producer of these bands, Ross Robinson, who produced my record "Hard to Swallow". I call this type of Hip Hop/Metal Molten Hip Hop. Stay tuned because the best has yet to come. Check out VanillaIce.com, my official website, for more info and updates
