Vanilla Ice is best known for his 90’s hip-hop hit “Ice, Ice Baby,” but what most people don’t know is that he is also a successful real-estate businessman as well as a home remodeling pro. The website DIY network provides an overview of the show below:
“Vanilla Ice is back to tackle his toughest Florida flip ever. The pop icon and knock-out home renovator has taken his biggest risk yet, investing in a high-dollar lakefront dump in need of a top-to-bottom transformation. That means ripping rooms to the studs, adding a new pool, a boat dock with a tiki hut and state-of-the-art technology all around.
Will his champagne taste end up costing him a profit? Or can he and his crew flip this tacky mess and still come out on top?”
Tonight, the “Ice, Ice Baby” star, Vanilla Ice will make a big debut on reality TV when “The Vanilla Ice Project,” a 30-minute series exhibiting his home renovation techniques, premieres at 9 PM ET on DIY Network. With 10 episodes centering on the rapper’s attempt to refurbish a 7,000 square-foot house in Palm Beach, Florida, the show provides a different side of the rapper-actor (real name: Robert Van Winkle) that he is thrilled to show.
Vanilla Ice tells Billboard, “I think it’s cool. There’s no shame in my game. I’m an entertainer, and whether it’s flipping houses or making music, I cater to the people who care about what I’m doing out there.”
According to him, the show rapidly came together once DIY Network executives found out about his self-taught home renovation skills and desire for real estate. Recently, the rapper had bought the Palm Beach house. He says that its previous homeowner “lost a lot of money in it and basically gutted the entire house… every cabinet was gone, every toilet was gone, even the door frames were gone. [We thought] it worked well for television, so we filmed a little pilot, sent it to DIY and they were all over it.”
The website also offers a couple of overviews for the show’s upcoming episodes. Below are just a few general ideas:
“Season 6, Episode 2
Views from the Great Room
The main entrance of the house opens into the Great Room, making this space very important to Rob since he wants to wow all the visitors. By opening the space up and extending it to the water, Rob wants to turn this room from boring to soaring. A custom fireplace, new marble floors and a unique ceiling application are sure to transform this space.
Season 6, Episode 3
Suite Dreams
Rob and his ninjas transform the master bedroom from a small afterthought into a massive room fit for a king. Elegant hardwood floors, wallpaper, a custom fireplace and floor to ceiling windows will prove challenging to install, but ultimately are worth the work.”
With an idea that combines “Pimp My Ride” with “This Old House,” the reality TV show finds Vanilla Ice as well as his crew affixing showy features like projector screens, electric drapes, as well as “fire pods” to the mansion. Vanilla Ice, who spent nearly five months filming says, “The before and after shots are going to be amazing.”
The venture into TV hasn’t slowed down the musical output of the rapper, however. He plans to release “WTF,” a new, independent album whose title was motivated by musical diversity.
He says “It’s got a lot of hip-hop on it, but it’s all over the map. There’s some techno on it. It’s got a country song that I’ve done with Cowboy Troy. I even got some acoustic, a cappella stuff on there. There’s no explicit lyrics on this one, which is good.”
With a fresh show and new album, Vanilla Ice states that folks are listening to him in a manner that is similar to when the hip-hop song “Ice, Ice Baby” made him popular 20 years ago. He says, “I think people are embracing the whole underdog thing — it’s kind of the American way. I think it’s my time right now. I had a nice wave that was big back in the day, and I caught another wave today and am just enjoying the ride.”
However, last year, the rapper was arrested in Florida. He was accused stealing a neighbor’s furniture. Vanilla Ice: Arrest Is ‘Just A Mess And I’m Dealing With It’ by ABC News covers this story. The excerpt of the article is below:
“The former rapper was arrested in Lantana, Florida, on February 18, accused of stealing furniture from a neighbor’s home. He was charged with burglary residence and grand theft, according to a Chief Sean Scheller at the Lantana Police Department.
“I’m purchasing the house,” Van Winkle said today. “I can’t really talk much about it other than that, but you know, I’m dealing with it.”
According to the arrest report, Van Winkle said that “he found several of the items next to the curb and he thought they were trash.”
The home in question, in Palm Beach County, is located near a residence that he actually does own and is renovating. According to authorities, the missing items — which included furniture, a pool heater, bicycles and other items — were found at Van Winkle’s property and later returned to the owner.
The total value of the items found at Van Winkle’s home totaled more than $6,000, according to the report.”