Vanilla Ice quotes:

I 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.

I 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.

I will not say anything about my father. Period. I don't have a dad.

I was born in Dallas, Texas, but I was raised in south Florida. 'Ice Ice Baby' is about that area.

One 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.

I don't have any reason to hate anybody; I believe in good karma and spreading good energy.

I know this will blow your mind, but most people would probably never ever get it, but I listen to classical music when nobody else is around. It calms me down and I can get into this, like, deep thinking mode, you know, because there's really no lyrics to it, so you're not following something that - that you're listening to a story.

My breakdancing crew used to go to the mall and squat a piece of cardboard there; we had our jam box, and I'd spin on my head and make about forty bucks a day, which was pretty good back then. I was only 14 years old, so I would chase the girls around the mall and eat some pizza and have some change left over.

This 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.

When 'Ice Ice Baby' was selling a million records a day, I bought several properties: a home next to Michael J. Fox in L.A., a palace in Miami and a mountain cabin in Utah. Then, a few years later, I took a break from touring, saw that my properties had cobwebs, so I sold them, and - to my surprise - I made a huge profit!

I 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.

Even in a bad market, location, location, location is a way to still buy and sell property.

My mom raised me to be clean, so it's in my nature. I have two little girls, and I'm married, but we've got a nanny and a maid.

I use the music to vent, and a lot of the stuff that I am writing about or was writing about contained a lot of anger and anxiety, stress and depression, so that's how the album came out so dark.

It 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.

Concerts every night, autograph signings, endorsements, and so on. That's not what real life is about.

I bring people on stage with me. It's a good time, and people love to join in on the party. Show me a smile, and I'll show you one back.

I 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.

Listen, 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.

I didn't end up going bankrupt... I made some great investments and I held on to my money, which also enables me to have the freedom to do what I want now. But it's not about finances. No matter what, it's about keeping it real.

It's about enjoying your life. If you have no family, no friends to enjoy it with, it don't matter how much you have, how much success you have, how much fame you have, how much money you have, it doesn't matter.

I turn my negatives into my positives because one of my mottos is, 'Yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery,' meaning that you can't go back and change anything in the past.

To me, a critic is some loser who has no idea... someone with an opinion. We all have opinions. No offense, but what makes them dictate what is cool and what is not.

I 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.

I own a mortgage company and a real estate company funded by the music. Florida is a kinda gold mine.

I had a pretty modest upbringing; it was no pleasure cruise. I don't think I would be as happy today if I hadn't been through that. It was tough; I made some bad choices myself.

I'm a Christian, but I don't believe in religion or anything like that.

It wasn't until '94 when I tried to commit suicide that I realized that it wasn't about the money.

And all the zig-zags and lines in my hair? I used to do that myself. I just thought it was cool that you could actually do that with your hair.

My main thing is music; it's what I do.

Rap is from the streets and I'm from the streets. That's why a lot of people accept me.

"Ice" came in when my friends would say "cold as ice" - if you could rap and battle people you'd say "Dude, that was ice cold." It had nothing to do with jewelry. Back then, it was like "Your cold, dawg." "Vanilla Ice - that's cold."

I just kept it real and had the freedom to do what I want. It's not designed for any age group. It's not made for radio. There are no edits. The whole album contains explicit lyrics but that's because you need it.

Learn from my mistakes and you don't have to make them yourself.

I like Cleveland. I like the Cavaliers. Nothing wrong with Cleveland. I have lots of friends there.

The most valuable lesson I've ever learned in my life is that life is about family and friends, not about material things or any of that. It's about enjoying your life. If you have no family, no friends to enjoy it with, it don't matter how much you have, how much success you have, how much fame you have, how much money you have, it doesn't matter.

With 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.

All 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.

It doesn't sound anything like 'Under Pressure.'

If 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.

I 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.

More 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.

Honestly, 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.

No way! Let me tell you, I'm no Elvis. Elvis had his time. I'm Vanilla Ice, and it's my turn now.

Show me who your friends are and I'll show you who you are. It works for me. Stay positive and good things happen.

A 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.

To be truthful, Jay-Z wouldn't have a quarter of the records sold today if it wasn't for the white people buying his records.

Negativity spreads faster than any Justin Bieber song.

A 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.

I meet everybody. If somebody invites me to their house and they got a drum set close, I'm going to play, man. Let's jam. I don't care. Get in where you fit in and enjoy the experience.

I 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.

If you look at the statistics, people spend most of their time in the kitchen. Aside from the backyard, it's one of my favorite places to renovate.

I turned a lot of people in white America - and not just white America, but middle-class America - into hip-hoppers, you know?

Shows have been sold out. It's overwhelming, you know. I had no idea what to expect with this new sound and everything and just to see so many people just come out and embrace it, it's overwhelming.

I didn't want the public in my personal life at all - I thought that people might perceive me as too normal, and I'd lose that larger-than-life rock star persona. You've got to protect that!

I've never met anybody in this world like me.

Act smarter than you are and always know where your exit is in case you get into too much trouble.

Another 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?

Anything less than the best is a felony.

As 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.

Be 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.

Drop that zero and get with the hero!

For three years, between 16 and 19, I was the opening-act-for-the-opening-act-for-the-opening-act, you know? And then I was on tour with Ice-T, Stetsasonic, EPMD, Sir Mix-a-Lot - legends - and went on to sell 160 million records. It still baffles me.

I do a lot of TV stuff, but I also turn a lot down - it's got to be an adventure.

I don't know all the certain words to word it.

I have been known to hang out and party back in the day. I had a weekend that lasted a few years.

I 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.

I'm a random guy. I shake a hand and make a friend. I don't do egotistical things.

i'm okay.. is that what you really want me to say?

I'm the kind of guy who really likes a challenge. It's more rewarding.

I'm to trying to say I'm something I'm not. Black people understand that. I'm just doing my raps, my way. Rap is black. I recognize that and respect that. I'm just a white guy trying to rap, and I got lucky.

I've been playing concerts for many years, and it's still as exciting as it was the first time. I hope that shows when I'm performing.

I've never left music behind, but I've had success in television.

My 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.

Not everyone agrees on music. Some people like rap, some like country - it's all an opinion. F the critics.

Show me a smile, and I'll show you one back.

Stop, collaborate and listen.

To the extreme I rock a mike like a vandal.

We are who we are because of who we were

What 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.

You 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.