Act smarter than you are and always know where your exit is in case you get into too much trouble.
Vanilla IceOne thing I didn't understand in life was that I had $100,000,000 in the bank and I couldn't buy happiness. I had everything: mansions, yachts, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, but I was depressed. I didn't know where I fitted in. But then I found family and friends and I learned the value of life.
Vanilla IceI don't have any reason to hate anybody; I believe in good karma and spreading good energy.
Vanilla IceYou can't please everybody, and basically I just decided to please myself first on this record. This record is more like my diary and I am expressing myself through my music. And that's what it should be about. That's why I didn't change my name or anything. It's not about the name; it's about the music. The old saying goes that video killed the radio star and it's very true. And now I'm just letting everything revolve around the music. There is no image; I am just being myself.
Vanilla IceI do freestyle jumping. Been doing since I was eight years old and can't quit. I'm addicted. I've broken many bones, but I ride with confidence. It's my thing - there's no high on earth like it. It's my hobby and I really enjoy it.
Vanilla IceConcerts every night, autograph signings, endorsements, and so on. That's not what real life is about.
Vanilla IceBe yourself and enjoy yourself. Show me a smile and I'll show you one back. Karma: Believe in it. It's real. It comes back to you.
Vanilla IceAll my friends were black and Mexican. I was the only white kid in our group and had to work hard to be accepted. Year after year, we'd breakdance and we all became close and they labeled me "Vanilla" - like "Hey, Vanilla" and they knew I hated it, so of course they kept calling me it.
Vanilla IceI live off a motto that says, 'yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery'. I have goals and agendas. Where ever I'll be tomorrow, that's where I'll be.
Vanilla IceAs for music and my place in it, maybe things are changing a little bit. I know this: a good song is deeper than a tattoo. It'll remind you of the car you're driving and the girl you're going around with and the streets you're cruising. It's better than a photo album. A song is a tattoo that you never lose. 'Ice, Ice Baby,' man, you'll remember that when you're 90.
Vanilla IceMy sound has changed. It's still hiphop, but it's more of like a rock/hip-hop show. It's high energy, stage diving, pyrotechnics, girls showing their breasts. It's crazy party atmosphere.
Vanilla IceAnother car is not going to help me out, a nicer car, I've already got it. A bigger house ain't gonna do anything for me, and you know, a yacht, it's not going to do anything for me anymore. So how can I find happiness?
Vanilla IceIf you grew up in my generation, you're going to be influenced by Run DMC, the Beastie Boys and also listen to Metallica - it wasn't segregated anymore.
Vanilla IceNot everyone agrees on music. Some people like rap, some like country - it's all an opinion. F the critics.
Vanilla IceMore than half of all the hip hop record sales are white people, and I think that might be a result of my record helping people to accept hip hop.
Vanilla IceA lot of people don't remember anything since 'Ice Ice Baby,' but I've got 3 records out since then and they're all successes - but not commercially.
Vanilla IceI like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Common. But I like the underground stuff like Young Jeezy, Black Rob and Shine. I also love heavy metal like Slipknot and Pantera, It's very intense stuff.
Vanilla IceI like Cleveland. I like the Cavaliers. Nothing wrong with Cleveland. I have lots of friends there.
Vanilla IceI just kind of shoot the finger to the critics. I don't give sh - what a critic says. To me a critic is some loser who has no idea... someone with an opinion. We all have opinions.
Vanilla IceIt took me a while and a lot of hard times to figure out my purpose, I am so happy with my life. I just want to help make other people happy too.
Vanilla IceWith the mega-fame came the mega-downfall - you know, with the press and everything - and at a young age, it was very stressful to me.
Vanilla IceI have been known to hang out and party back in the day. I had a weekend that lasted a few years.
Vanilla IceA lot of people think I was an overnight success, but I was an opening act for three or four years, and then I signed my contract with EMI. Then it kind of blew up overnight.
Vanilla IceI turned a lot of people in white America - and not just white America, but middle-class America - into hip-hoppers, you know?
Vanilla IceI used the music kind of as therapy, and it's just amazing that I feel so free after doing that. I feel like I had it trapped inside of me and now I feel free. So it's been a very good therapy session for me as well.
Vanilla IceThis was totally influenced by me and the direction that I am writing about and the stuff that I am writing about. There is just no way that you can be as intense as what I have been through in my life over a drum beat machine, sample, or loop; it's just not going to happen.
Vanilla IceI got caught up on drugs for a few years, I'm off it, I'm very happy, got two kids and a family and everything. And like I said I'm making the underground music, and keeping it real.
Vanilla IceHonestly, a lot of people thought that I was on top of the world selling so many millions of records, and that this is the life that everybody would want, but I never got to enjoy any of my success.
Vanilla IceNo way! Let me tell you, I'm no Elvis. Elvis had his time. I'm Vanilla Ice, and it's my turn now.
Vanilla IceI don't harp on what I could change about the past, because I can't go back and change it. But definitely a lot of things I would change.
Vanilla IceListen, if you don't talk big game, you never get anywhere. If you don't think big, you don't get big. Some people call it egotistical, some people call it high hopes, some people call it confidence. It's all in how you want to dissect it.
Vanilla IceWhat makes critics dictate what is cool and what is not. What gives them the pass to say that their opinion on music or movies or anything is what should be cool and what shouldn't. I don't think it should be up to one person.
Vanilla IceI have a very broad demographic, from the 8-year-old who knows every word to 'Ice Ice Baby' and the college kid who grew up on 'Ninja Rap' to the soccer mom and grandparent.
Vanilla Ice