Catching up with the Iceman to talk fame, that Bieber kid, and his role as hip-hop’s (secret) style icon
"Hey, it’s Rob Van Winkle."
You probably know him by a different name. The artist formerly known as Vanilla Ice has come a long way from Guess jeans and pompadours. Now going by his birth name, Rob, Van Winkle has spent the past two decades tearing up carpet, knocking down walls, and turning eyesores into million-dollar homes. It even landed him a TV gig: Van Winkle is three seasons deep as the host of The Vanilla Ice Project on The DIY Network.
For a man who spent 16 weeks atop the Billboard 200 before his first (legal) sip of alcohol, he doesn’t do a lot of looking back. He lives by a simple code: "Yesterday’s history, tomorrow’s a mystery." But it doesn’t mean he’s forgotten where he came from.
In our April Style Bible, we named him hip-hop’s (secret) style icon, but we wanted to ask the man himself if he thinks AAP and Wiz are jocking his look.
GQ: Let’s talk about your style. Who were some of your influences?
Rob Van Winkle: Coming out of the ’80s, everything’s colorful. We were at war at the time, so I’d get a lot of American flag stuff. I was really influenced by Turbo and Ozone in movies like Breakin’ and Beat Street. Do you remember those?
GQ: Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. A lot of rec centers needed saving back in those days.
Rob Van Winkle: Yeah! Old school. When hip-hop was coming in. It started with me wearing these fake Fila sweat suits that I would get at the flea market. They were dope because you couldn’t find them at the mall and people wouldn’t know where you got that. It might fall apart in two weeks or whatever, but it was still cool.
GQ: It’s about having what no one else has, right?
Rob Van Winkle: Yeah, it was original. And all the zig-zags and lines in my hair? I used to do that myself. I just thought it was cool that you could actually do that with your hair.
GQ: I know people that still do that.
Rob Van Winkle: That whole area [in Miami] was saturated with hip-hop. I used to spin on my head at the mall and make 40 bucks a day. And it was more than my rich kid friends could get for allowance. I was 14 years old, chasing girls and eating pizza and it was the best thing ever.
GQ: And then Ice Ice Baby happened.
Rob Van Winkle: You never imagine in a million years something like this. That was a B-Side record. "Play That Funky Music" was the A-Side. But you don’t think with your own music that one is better than the other.
GQ: They’re all the single.
Rob Van Winkle: Exactly. For three years between 16 and 19 I was the opening-act-for-the-opening-act-for-the-opening-act, you know? And then I was on tour with Ice-T, Stetsasonic, EPMD, Sir Mix-a-Lot--legends--and went on to sell 160 million records. It still baffles me.
GQ: Any regrets? Are there things you wore that still make you look back and shake your head?
Rob Van Winkle: Hell yeah! Lots of it! I was a kid selling a million records a day. The thing was so big, it overpowered me and any direction I had. They hired wardrobe people who would just show up and say, you’re wearing this today, you’re wearing this tonight, tomorrow you’re talking to Barbara Walters, so you’ve gotta wear this... and I’m thinking, "Well, I’m with a big record company, they know what they’re doing, why would I question them?" Shit. I look back and it’s just, "What the hell was I thinking?" [Pauses] I remember wearing Z. Cavaricci pants...
GQ: With the waistband and the stripes?
Rob Van Winkle:Yeah! And the stuff I didn’t like is all back. Full-circle. I go into Foot Locker and see high-tops in pink and neon.
**GQ: Which brings me to my next question. We see what you wore then, and now we see guys like AAP Rocky and 2 Chainz in some of the same stuff. Are you hip-hop’s secret style icon? **
Rob Van Winkle: [Laughs] I love it. My daughter likes One Direction, and she shows me pictures of this guy, Zayn.
GQ: Zayn Malik.
Rob Van Winkle: Yeah! She thought it was me! He had that blonde streak in the middle, the pompadour, everything.
GQ: Are you a One Direction fan?
Rob Van Winkle: Oh, hell yes. No shame in my game. And the kids need something to listen to. She sent me another blog about Justin Bieber going down the street with his Vanilla Ice hairdo and his shirt off. I’m like, "What?"
GQ: He’s been in the news a lot lately, and not always for the right reasons. You’ve been down that road. What advice would you give Justin?
Rob Van Winkle: I’ve known him for a while. He’s a good kid and he’s got great people around him. The bad thing is, they’re not always going to be around. There’s a transition from being a kid to being an adult, and he’s never had that. Concerts every night, autograph signings, endorsements, and so on. That’s not what real life is about. You’ve gotta feel for him, because I’ve been through the machine and back.
**GQ: Maybe you’ll have to give him a call. **
Rob Van Winkle: I don’t think Justin’s listening to too many people these days. The only person that’s gonna do it for him is himself. The fans turn on you. Not deliberately, they’re just onto the next thing.
GQ: What’s he going to have to do?
Rob Van Winkle: He’s gotta learn his purpose. When the snow globe that’s been rattled up his whole life settles, it’s "Where am I as an adult?" and "Where do I fit in?" It happened to me. I had a weekend that lasted a few years [laughs] and I had to figure out my purpose. And the great thing is, I found it. I found my family, I found my friends. I found another passion in life. The sad thing about self-destructing is that part is more entertaining than any act they’ve been in before that.
GQ: People eat that up.
Rob Van Winkle: Negativity spreads faster than any Justin Bieber song. If he hits the paparazzi, that’s gonna be on the news tonight. If he releases a new record, I don’t know. And you have to pay for that advertisement! He’ll be alright. He’s got some stuff to go through. Hopefully he won’t go too far.
GQ: You made it through. From hip-hop to home improvement.
Rob Van Winkle: It just kind of fell into place.
GQ: How’d you end up flipping houses for a living?
Rob Van Winkle: I started off investing in some real estate way back in the day, and then I got into the designer aspect of it just by doing my own homes. A lot of houses are affordable now that weren’t before.
GQ: I heard about some of those homes. Do you still have the fish steps?
Rob Van Winkle: You heard about the fish in the staircase? Nah. I don’t have that anymore. You feel like you’re living in a 12-bedroom nightclub. It became ridiculous. Where’s my home?
GQ: So you made a change?
Rob Van Winkle: And it’s been non-stop since. I learned about throw pillows and fireplaces and earth-tone colors.
GQ: This is not the Iceman people knew.
Rob Van Winkle: Get in where you fit in. You never plan your passions, they just happen.
GQ: And now the young guys are dressing like you.
Rob Van Winkle: The ’80s are back, man. My daughter wanted a Polaroid camera. She wears it like jewelry around her neck. I figured out why this is all going on, and it’s not just in America. This is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle world. It’s funny, but it’s true. That generation is running the world right now. The President of the United States is a Turtles fan. They’ve got Michael Bay, one of the biggest directors in Hollywood, about to re-do the movie. People forget how big those turtles were.
GQ: And you were in the sequel.
Rob Van Winkle: Yup. It’s funny, because somebody asked me today, "How many people come up to you and say ’Ice Ice Baby’ or something like that?" I get that quite often, but lately, I get more "Go ninja, go ninja, go." It’s nuts. And this is all over the world. It’s a Ninja Turtle generation, man.
GQ: Which turtle were you? For guys, that’s kind of our Sex and the City.
Rob Van Winkle: I never thought about it. What were you?
GQ: I was a Raph.
Rob Van Winkle: I like Raphael, too. I don’t know if I ever picked a favorite.
GQ: Then let’s get it on record: Who’s your turtle?
Rob Van Winkle: [Pauses] Michelangelo.
GQ: The Party Dude.
Rob Van Winkle: Yup. Get in where you fit in.