Watching Jim Carrey at the height of his powers is truly jaw-dropping, not to mention side-splitting! If you need any proof of that, watch the funny man’s parody of Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby,” complete with outlandish matching outfit and haircut. The Texas rapper’s infamous 1990 hip hop crossover hit was just begging to be taken the mickey out of, and Carrey is just the man to do it.
Carrey perfectly imitates Vanilla Ice’s flow, and his zany dance moves are on point! The Canadian comedian’s lyrics are alternately ridiculous and scathing, but either way, his rap will def get you rolling. Here on The Music Man, we reckon Carrey’s take on “Ice Ice Baby” is up there with his funniest moments, and fans online agreed, tuning into the skit 22 million times across multiple YouTube uploads.
Carrey performed the bit on the early ‘90s sketch comedy show In Living Color. Fans were loving what the funny man was putting down in the performance, and added comments such as “Carrey did a superb job with this. The dancing is actually pretty good.” and “Carrey is a comic genius in every sense. I cannot think of an entertainer with more talent.”
Even though the skit is beyond silly, it actually takes a fair bit of talent to rap and dance like that. It’s no surprise that Carrey was up to the task, as he has created many hit videos over the years with his musical gags. One of his most popular musical performances is when he sang A-ha’s “Take On Me” – including that famous sky-high falsetto note. While he sang it in a lower key, it’s still pretty impressive, not to mention entertaining.
Eagle-eyed The Music Man readers may also note Carrey’s “Ice Ice Baby” cover is now hosted on the official Vanilla Ice YouTube channel – clearly the rapper is able to have a bit of a laugh at himself. Vanilla Ice released “Ice Ice Baby” on August 22, 1990. The song went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic and scored a host of Platinum and Gold certifications across various markets. The song is also notable as one of the first hip hop songs to top the Billboard Hot 100. The main hook of “Ice Ice Baby” samples the bassline of Queen and David Bowie’s 1981 hit “Under Pressure.” This caused quite a bit of controversy, as neither Queen nor Bowie were credited at first. After “Ice Ice Baby” became a hit, Vanilla Ice eventually settled the matter out of court and provided financial recompense to the songwriters.