Robert Van Winkle, aka Vanilla Ice, maintains he was a guinea pig in the early 1990s. He regrets the way his image was manipulated during his "To the Extreme" heyday and later lampooned.
"Don't forget, I was the first white rapper," he said in a telephone interview. "I was selling millions of records. I never predicted it, I never prepared for it. I figured the record company knows what they're doing. I figured, I'll let these people control it all and they did control it all. They had image consultants, publicists, all kinds of people. I was like, whatever. I was out to make the big bucks."
But he still isn't above a little posturing, especially in his latest gig on the VH1 reality series "Surreal Life Fame Games."
"Drama is what they (the show's producers) are looking for," he said.
The singer now is 38. Long gone are the white-streaked pompadour, baggy pants and colorful leather jackets. In publicity shots, Vanilla Ice now sports an arm full of tattoos, camouflage shorts and a goatee.
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His last few albums, including 2001's "Bi-Polar" and 2005's "Platinum Underground," have been distinguished by sharp metal edges, and the sound is more reminiscent of Papa Roach than MC Hammer.
"There are a lot of people out there who know my new stuff, and for those who don't, I'm going to introduce it to them," he said. "But I can't go out there without doing 'Ice Ice Baby.' People love it."
The Dallas native shot to fame in 1990 with his multi-platinum-selling album "To the Extreme" and the now-classic single "Ice Ice Baby."
But his subsequent efforts failed to generate much heat, and his 1991 film "Cool as Ice" received a chilly reception. By 1992, he was effectively off the charts (though "Ice Ice Baby" did reach No. 11 on Billboard's Hot Ringtones chart in 2004 and the tune remains a favorite of karaoke singers).
In spite of all the problems with his handlers, Vanilla Ice did make some shrewd real estate investments, and even after his star faded he managed to make a good living, he said, rather than descending down the "Behind the Music" road of poverty and drugs.
The singer has appeared on two seasons of "The Surreal Life" (including the current all-star version), which features b-list celebrities such as adult-film actor Ron Jeremy and former "Webster" TV star Emmanuel Lewis living in a house together.
The singer's career, he said, has benefited from the show.
"It's keeping the buzz out there," he said. "People get to watch you, like you, they get to have a good laugh. I got other deals to do television and movies from it."
Fans of the show know Vanilla Ice as a hothead, liable to scream at former "Baywatch" star Traci Bingham or throw a tantrum over former MTV veejay Kennedy rating the celebrity status of him and his friends.
"They ask you to spice it up," he said. "They encourage you. If you can go over the top a little bit, do it. You stir up a little excitement. But it's like a little adventure. I enjoy the heck out of it."
Over the phone, he comes across as genial and good humored, laughing at a question about whether infamous hip-hop mogul Suge Knight did in fact dangle him from a hotel balcony in a dispute over royalties.
For the record, the dangling part is false, though the rumor has a grain of truth, he said.
