Ice Ice Baby appears and rap goes pop

He was hailed as a hip-hop Elvis, the bequiffed white guy taking black music mainstream – but Vanilla Ice was destined for a footnote in hip-hop history. More important was that his Ice Ice Baby, and MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This, proved that rap could work as pop. Detractors had a field day – 3rd Bass brilliantly lampooned them both on Pop Goes the Weasel – but pop rap was here to stay.