To the Extreme

To the Extreme
Studio album by Vanilla Ice
Released September 3, 1990
Recorded 1989—1990
Genre Pop rap
Length 57:22
Label SBK
Producer Vanilla Ice, Kim Sharp, Khayree, Darryl Williams
Vanilla Ice chronology
Hooked
(1989)		 To the Extreme
(1990)		 Mind Blowin'
(1994)
Singles from To the Extreme
  1. "Play That Funky Music"
    Released: April 25, 1990
  2. "Ice Ice Baby"
    Released: July 2, 1990
  3. "I Love You"
    Released: 1990

To the Extreme is the major label debut studio album of American rapper Vanilla Ice and his best selling album. The album was initially released in 1989 by independent record label Ichiban Records under the title Hooked. Vanilla Ice signed to SBK Records, who reissued the album under its current title. The album contains Vanilla Ice's most successful singles, "Ice Ice Baby" and "Play That Funky Music". Although reviews of the album were mixed, To the Extreme spent 16 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, and sold 15 million copies worldwide.[1]

History

In 1989 Vanilla Ice released an early version of To the Extreme under the title Hooked on Ichiban Records.[2][3][4] "Play That Funky Music" was released as the album's first single, with "Ice Ice Baby" appearing as the B-side.[5][6] The 12-inch single featured the radio, instrumental and a cappella versions of "Play That Funky Music" and the radio version and "Miami Drop" remix of "Ice Ice Baby".[7] When a disc jockey played "Ice Ice Baby" instead of the single's A-side, the song gained more success than "Play That Funky Music".[5] A music video for "Ice Ice Baby" was produced for $8000.[8][9] The video was financed by Vanilla Ice's manager, Tommy Quon, and shot on the roof of a warehouse in Dallas, Texas.[10]

In 1990, Vanilla Ice signed to SBK Records, who reissued Hooked under the title To the Extreme. The reissue contained new artwork and music.[11] "Ice Ice Baby" was given its own single, released in 1990 by SBK Records in the United States, and EMI Records in the United Kingdom. The SBK single contained the "Miami Drop", instrumental and radio mixes of "Ice Ice Baby" and the album version of "It's A Party".[12] The EMI single contained the club and radio mixes of the song, and the shortened radio edit.[13]

Music

Vanilla Ice wrote "Ice Ice Baby" at the age of 16, basing its lyrics upon the South Florida area in which he was raised.[14] The lyrics describe a drive-by shooting and Vanilla Ice's rhyming skills.[15] The chorus of "Ice Ice Baby" originates from the signature chant of the national African American fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha.[16][17] The song's hook samples the bassline of the 1981 song "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie.[18] Freddie Mercury and David Bowie did not receive credit or royalties for the sample.[5] In a 1990 interview, Vanilla Ice said the two melodies were slightly different because he had added an additional note. In later interviews, Vanilla Ice readily admitted he sampled the song and claimed his 1990 statement was a joke; others, however, suggested he had been serious.[19][20] Vanilla Ice later paid Mercury and Bowie, who have since been given songwriting credit for the sample.[19]

The stylistic origins of "Rosta Man" are based upon reggae toasting.[11][21]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Robert ChristgauC−[22]
Entertainment Weekly(B)[23]
Select(2/5)[24]
Smash Hits(8/10)[25]

To the Extreme became the fastest selling hip hop album of all time,[26] peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200.[27] The album spent 16 weeks at the top of the charts, and seven million copies were shipped across the United States.[28] To the Extreme was the best selling hip hop album up until that time.[29] "Ice Ice Baby" has been credited for helping diversify hip hop by introducing it to a mainstream, white audience.[30]

Entertainment Weekly reviewer Dom Lombardo gave the album a B, calling the album "so consistent in its borrowings that it could be a parody, if it weren't for its total absence of wit",[23] but concluding that "if there's about a two-to-one ratio of winners [...] to clunkers, that's not the worst track record for a debut album."[23] Udovitch cited "Ice Ice Baby", "Play That Funky Music", "Dancin'" and "It's a Party" as the album's highlights.[23] Robert Christgau gave the album a C- rating, writing that Vanilla Ice's "suave sexism, fashionably male supremacist rather than dangerously obscene, is no worse than his suave beats".[22] Select stated that To The Extreme "packs in just about every musical and lyrical code of rap, yet still says nothing" and that "Kids and neophytes have a right to love it, but grown-ups will find Vanilla Ice spectacularly hollow."[24]

AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey wrote that "Ice's mic technique is actually stronger and more nimble than MC Hammer's, and he really tries earnestly to show off the skills he does have. Unfortunately, even if he can keep a mid-tempo pace, his flow is rhythmically stiff, and his voice has an odd timbre; plus, he never seems sure of the proper accent to adopt. He's able to overcome those flaws somewhat in isolated moments, but they become all too apparent over the course of an entire album."[11]

After audiences began to view Vanilla Ice as a novelty act, his popularity began to decline. He would later regain some success, attracting a new audience outside of the mainstream audience that had formerly accepted him, and then rejected him.[31]

Track listing

To the Extreme
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Ice Ice Baby"  Vanilla Ice, Earthquake, Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and David BowieVanilla Ice4:31
2."Yo Vanilla"  Vanilla IceVanilla Ice0:04
3."Stop That Train"  Vanilla Ice and EarthquakeVanilla Ice4:29
4."Hooked"  Vanilla IceKhayree4:52
5."Ice Is Workin' It"  Vanilla Ice and EarthquakeVanilla Ice4:36
6."Life Is a Fantasy"  Vanilla Ice and EarthquakeEarthquake4:47
7."Play That Funky Music"  Vanilla Ice and EarthquakeVanilla Ice4:22
8."Dancin'"  Vanilla Ice and EarthquakeEarthquake and Khayree5:00
9."Go Ill"  Vanilla IceDavid Deberry5:00
10."It's a Party"  Vanilla IceKhayree4:39
11."Juice to Get Loose Boy"  Vanilla IceVanilla Ice0:08
12."Ice Cold"  Vanilla IceDarryl Williams4:05
13."Rosta Man"  Vanilla IceDarryl Williams4:36
14."I Love You"  Vanilla IceKim Sharp5:06
15."Havin' a Roni"  Vanilla IceVanilla Ice1:09
Total length:57:22

Personnel

The following people contributed on To the Extreme:[32]

Additional musicians

Technical personnel

Charts

Chart (1990) Peak position
Billboard 200 1[27]
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 6[27]

End of decade charts

Chart (1990–1999) Position
U.S. Billboard 200[33] 20

References

  1. ↑ "Vanilla ice special 1999". YouTube. 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  2. ↑ "Overview for Hooked". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  3. ↑ "Information for Hooked". Discogs. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  4. ↑ Price, Jason. "The Next Ice Age". Live-Metal. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  5. 1 2 3 Westfahl, Gary (2000). "Legends of the Fall: Behind the Music". Science Fiction, Children's Literature, and Popular Culture. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 100. ISBN 0-313-30847-0.
  6. ↑ Wartofsky, Alona (November 22, 1998). "The Iceman Returneth; Vanilla Ice: Once Hated, He's Back With a Different Rap". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  7. ↑ "Information for "Ice Ice Baby" (12")". Discogs. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  8. ↑ Corcoran, Michael (January 27, 1991). "Black and white & rap all over: Mass America moves to beat of hip-hop". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  9. ↑ Hilburn, Robert (March 17, 1991). "Why Is Everyone Still Fussing About Ice?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  10. ↑ Perkins, Ken Parish (March 31, 1991). "Building with Ice: Tommy Quon struggled for years running clubs -- then found a ticket out". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Huey, Steve. "Review of To the Extreme". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  12. ↑ "Information for "Ice Ice Baby" (SBK)". Discogs. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  13. ↑ "Information for "Ice Ice Baby" (EMI)". Discogs. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  14. ↑ Rayner, Alex (November 3, 2007). "Is this it?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  15. ↑ Perullo, Alex; Fenn, John (2003). "Ideologies, Choices, and Practicies in Eastern African Hip Hop". In Harris M., Berger; Michael Thomas, Carroll. Global Pop, Local Language. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 25. ISBN 1-57806-536-4.
  16. ↑ Keyes, Cheryl L (2004). "Blending and Shaping Styles: Rap and Other Musical Voices". Rap Music and Street Consciousness. University of Illinois Press. p. 107. ISBN 0-252-07201-4.
  17. ↑ Fine, Elizabeth Calvert (2003). "The Cultural Politics of Step Shows". Soulstepping: African American Step Shows. University of Illinois Press. p. 145. ISBN 0-252-02475-3.
  18. ↑ Hess, Mickey (2007). "Vanilla Ice: The Elvis of Rap". Is Hip Hop Dead?. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 118. ISBN 0-275-99461-9.
  19. 1 2 Stillman, Kevin (February 27, 2006). "Word to your mother". Iowa State Daily. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  20. ↑ Adams, Nick (2006). "When White Rappers Attack". Making Friends with Black People. Kensington Books. p. 75. ISBN 0-7582-1295-X.
  21. ↑ Perkins, William Eric (1996). "Whiteface mimicry: dissin' race and culture". Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture. Temple University Press. p. 199. ISBN 1-56639-362-0.
  22. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (1990). "Review of To the Extreme". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Udovitch, Mim (November 2, 1990). "Review of To the Extreme". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  24. 1 2 Brown, Russell (February 1991). "Reviews". Select. p. 73.
  25. ↑ Andrews, Marc. "Review: Vanilla Ice: To The Extreme (SBK)". Smash Hits. EMAP Metro (12–25 December 1990): 54.
  26. ↑ Forman, Murray (2002). "'Welcome to the City'". The 'hood Comes First: Race, Space, and Place in Rap and Hip-hop. Wesleyan University Press. p. 61. ISBN 0-8195-6397-8.
  27. 1 2 3 "Charts and awards for To the Extreme". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  28. ↑ Kihn, Martin (May 18, 1992). "Charles in Charge". New York. 25 (20): 40.
  29. ↑ Perkins, William Eric (1996). "The great white hoax". Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture. Temple University Press. p. 37. ISBN 1-56639-362-0.
  30. ↑ Kyllonen, Tommy (2007). "An unorthodox culture: hip-hop's history". Un.orthodox: Church. Hip-Hop. Culture. Zondervan. p. 92. ISBN 0-310-27439-7.
  31. ↑ "Catching Up With... Vanilla Ice". The Washington Post. February 17, 2006. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  32. ↑ "Credits for To the Extreme". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  33. ↑ Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
Preceded by
Step by Step by New Kids on the Block		 Billboard 200 number-one album
November 10, 1990 - March 1, 1991 		Succeeded by
Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey
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