Vanilla Ice - Early Life

Early Life

Robert Matthew Van Winkle was born in Dallas, Texas. Van Winkle never knew his biological father, and was given the family name of the man his mother was married to at the time of his birth. When Van Winkle was four, his mother divorced. Afterward, he grew up moving between Dallas and Miami, where his new stepfather worked at a car dealership. Hip hop had an impact on Van Winkle at an early age, saying "It's a very big passion of mine because I love poetry. I was just heavily influenced by that whole movement and it's molded me into who I am today." Between the ages of 13 and 14, Van Winkle practiced breakdancing, which led to his friends nicknaming him "Vanilla", as he was the only one in the group that was not African American. Although he disliked the nickname, it stuck. Shortly afterward, Van Winkle started battle rapping at parties and because of his rhymes, his friends started calling him "MC Vanilla." However, when he became a member of a breakdance troupe, Van Winkle's stage name was "Vanilla Ice" combining his nickname "Vanilla" with one of his breakdance moves, the "Ice". When Van Winkle's stepfather was offered a better job in Carrollton, Texas, he moved back to Texas with his mother. He attended R. L. Turner High School for a short time before dropping out. When Van Winkle was not learning to ride motorbikes, he was dancing as a street performer with his breakdancing group, now called The Vanilla Ice Posse. Van Winkle wrote "Ice Ice Baby" at the age of 16, basing its lyrics on a weekend he had with friend and disc jockey D-Shay in South Florida. The lyrics describe a drive-by shooting and praise Van Winkle's rhyming skills.