Mind Blowin

Mind Blowin
Studio album by Vanilla Ice
Released	March 22, 1994
Recorded	1992-1994
Genre	Hardcore hip hop
Length	47:14
Label	SBK/EMI Records
Producer	DJ Zero Vanilla Ice
Vanilla Ice chronology
Extremely Live (1991) Mind Blowin (1994) Hard to Swallow (1998)
Singles from Mind Blowin
"Roll 'Em Up" Released: February 9, 1994 "The Wrath" Released: August 17, 1994 "Get Loose" Released: March 27, 1995

Mind Blowin is the second studio album by American rapper Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle. Released on March 22, 1994, it is the rapper's final release on SBK Records. The album did not chart, and received unfavorable reviews. It has since received cult status in the underground hip hop community. Songs from the album made up one third of Vanilla Ice's tours during 1996-2010.

Production

In late 1991, Ice started talking about his second album, which then had the working title 'Ice Capades'. He debuted three songs on his 'Extremely Live' album that were set to be on Ice Capades, including 'Road to my Riches', 'I Like It' and 'Move'. None of these songs are however featured on Mind Blowin. When the media started viewing Ice as a novelty act, he decided to make his next album harder than his last one in order to move away from the image SBK Records were trying to make for him. While writing and recording new songs, Ice premiered three of them in 1992 during his tours, including The Wrath, Now & Forever and Iceman Path. The original version of The Wrath was heavily changed for its album release after the departure of Ice's regular disc jockey Earthquake. The album was recorded throughout 1992 to 1994 and was eventually named 'Mind Blowin' which was a nod to Ice's rhyming skills.

Ice's original disc jockey Zero, who had played with him in 1986, was back as Van Vinkle's fulltime DJ after the departure of Earthquake and D-Shay. Zero help co-produce the album and add new elements to the sound. The new album featured more funk and smooth jazz than was earlier albums by Ice. 'Iceman Path' was a song that Zero and Ice had produced for his South American tour and was featured on the album completely unaltered from its original recording in 1992.

In 1993, EMI released a music video for Vanilla Ice's single, "Roll Em' Up," but it didn't get the same popularity as his previous singles. During airplay's on The Box, the music video would feature a short PSA with Ice, encouraging kids not to do drugs. A video was made for "The Wrath," but Ice's label, SBK, went bankrupt before it could be released. In 2011, he mentioned in a tweet that he had the video on VHS, but can't find it. In an interview in 1994, Van Winkle mentioned that he was going to India to shoot a third music video, which would feature him on a Peyote trip.

Lyrics

Vanilla Ice's mainstream fame during the early 1990's bothered some in the hip hop community. The same year, 3rd Bass released their single Pop Goes the Weasel which was a full-on verbal assault on Ice. Ice answered back with a song called "The Wrath" which he played at live shows throughout 1992. When it was time to release his second album, Ice featured 'The Wrath' with a different beat and tune, but the lyrics stayed the same. 3rd Bass were not the only ones that Ice answered back to. Much of the album was a reply to those who did not think Vanilla Ice deserved his fame or following.

Mark Wahlberg, then in the rap group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch had also made remarks on Ice in one of his songs. Ice answered back in the song 'Hit 'em Hard' which was almost in its entirety a dis song aimed at Mark, but Ice also included 3rd Bass again. Neither 3rd Bass nor Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch responded. ^[1]

A lot of the lyrics were drug influenced and featured references to smoking marijuana, especially in the single 'Roll 'em Up'. The song 'I Go Down' pays tribute to Gang Starr, Mary J. Blige and Tupac Shakur.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	(D)[3]

Reviews were unfavorable. Entertainment Weekly reviewer James Bernard called the album "more clunky than funky".^[4] Rolling Stone reviewer Danyel Smith called the song "Get Loose" "snappy", writing that although the lyrics are "inane", "the song is a thumping party, one of the few places where Ice loosens up. He sounds solid at the beginning of 'The Wrath' as well [...] He sounds easy and unaffected – close to sexy. But he doesn't keep it up: In 'Now and Forever,' a wet dream kind of song, Ice goes back to goofy lyrics [...] and his dry Max Headroom style."^[5] Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "There isn't a single moment that establishes a distinct musical identity, and the whole thing is rather embarrassing."^[6]

Vanilla Ice's cannabis-oriented lyrics were questioned by some, including Primus bassist Les Claypool, who stated in an interview for High Times, "He's got dreadlocks and he's got this song about smoking pot and basically he uses every little catch phrase he can think of that has to do with pot in his rap. That's all fine and dandy and cute, but it could be misconstrued and manipulated by the wrong people."^[7] The album was named the "Least Essential Album Showcasing An Image Makeover" in The A.V. Club's list of the "Least Essential Albums of the '90s," cited as "an album that inspired almost no one to roll up the hootie mack, as instructed in its first single."^[8]

When asked about the drug oriented sound years later, Vanilla Ice said "A lot of the record is drug oriented because I was doing a lot of drugs at the time."

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Live Intro"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero, Tha Hit Men and Vanilla Ice	0:51
2.	"Fame"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero, Tha Hit Men and Vanilla Ice	4:15
3.	"Get 'Em Now"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	0:08
4.	"The Wrath"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	4:20
5.	"Roll 'Em Up"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	4:30
6.	"Hit 'Em Hard"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	3:10
7.	"Smooth Interlude"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	0:31
8.	"Now & Forever"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	3:40
9.	"Iceman Party"	Vanilla Ice	Tha Hit Men and Vanilla Ice	3:34
10.	"Oh My Gosh"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	3:25
11.	"Minutes of Power"	Vanilla Ice	Tha Hit Men and Vanilla Ice	3:50
12.	"I Go Down"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	3:27
13.	"Bullet on the Chart"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	0:28
14.	"Phunky Rhymes"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	3:47
15.	"Blowin My Mind"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	3:18
16.	"Son of a Gun"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	0:07
17.	"Get Loose"	Vanilla Ice and Zero	DJ Zero and Vanilla Ice	3:41
Total length:				47:14

Personnel

The following people contributed to Mind Blowin:^[9]

Musicians

• Vanilla Ice — vocals, producer, engineer, executive producer, mixing
• Darryl "Delite" Allamby — keyboards
• Davis Bickston — drums
• Mike Daane — bass
• Dee Dee Harris — vocals
• Paul Loomis — keyboards
• Jeffrey Smith — electronic sounds, talk box
• Andy Timmons — guitar
• Robert Wechsler — guitar, programming, engineer, synclavier
• Steve Williams — drums

Additional personnel

• Scott Burnworth — art direction, design, photography
• Tom Coyne — mastering
• Dave Gossett — A&R
• Glen Hardy — photography
• Sean Hargraves — type
• Phil Johnson — art direction, design
• Scott Johnson — art direction, design
• James Conrad Koch — logo
• Tha Hit Men — producer
• Zero — producer, mixing

References

1. ^ The Wrath Lyrics. "The Wrath Lyrics". LyricsMode. http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-wrath-lyrics-vanilla-ice.html. Retrieved 2011-01-01. 
2. ^ Allmusic review
3. ^ Entertainment Weekly review
4. ^ Bernard, James (March 25, 1994). "Review of Mind Blowin'". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,301550,00.html. Retrieved 2009-03-07. 
5. ^ Smith, Danyel (May 5, 1994). "Review of Mind Blowin". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/vanillaice/albums/album/238497/review/5945585/mind_blowin. Retrieved 2009-03-07. 
6. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review of Mind Blowin". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r195971/review. Retrieved 2008-06-30. 
7. ^ Kenneally, Tim (July 1994). "The Secret Life of Primus". High Times (227): 49. ISSN 0362630X. 
8. ^ Phipps, Keith; Rabin, Nathan; Thompson, Stephen (December 22, 1999). "Least Essential Albums of the '90s". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/content/node/24539. Retrieved 2008-03-28. 
9. ^ "Credits for Mind Blowin". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r195971/credits. Retrieved 2009-03-07.