To The Extreme

To the Extreme is the major label debut studio album of American rapper Robert “Vanilla Ice” Van Winkle. Released in 1990, it is Van Winkle’s best selling album. The album was initially released in 1989 by independent record label Ichiban Records under the title Hooked. Van Winkle signed to SBK Records, who reissued the album under its current title. The album contains Van Winkle’s most successful singles, “Ice Ice Baby” and “Play That Funky Music”. Although reviews of the album were mixed, To the Extreme spent 16 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, selling eleven million copies worldwide.

In 1989, Robert Van Winkle, better known as Vanilla Ice, released an early version of To the Extreme under the title Hooked on Ichiban Records. The album sold 38,000 copies in three years. “Play That Funky Music” was released as the album’s first single, with “Ice Ice Baby” appearing as the B-side. The 12-inch single featured the radio, instrumental and a cappella versions of “Play That Funky Music” and the radio version and “Miami Drop” remix of “Ice Ice Baby”. When a disc jockey played “Ice Ice Baby” instead of the single’s A-side, the song gained more success than “Play That Funky Music”. A music video for “Ice Ice Baby” was produced for $8000. The video was financed by Van Winkle’s manager, Tommy Quon, and shot on the roof of a warehouse in Dallas, Texas. Heavy airplay of the video by The Box while Van Winkle was still unknown increased public interest in the song.