Ice Ice Baby - Legacy

Legacy

After audiences began to view Van Winkle as a novelty act and a pop star rather than a legitimate rapper, his popularity began to decline. Detroit-based rapper Eminem states that when he first heard "Ice Ice Baby", "I felt like I didn't want to rap anymore. I was so mad, because he was making it real hard for me." Van Winkle lost some credibility among hip hop fans, but later began to regain some success, attracting a new audience outside of the mainstream audience that had formerly accepted him, and then rejected him. "Ice Ice Baby" continues to be the song that Van Winkle is best known for internationally, although Van Winkle states that his American fans like his newer music better.

A live version appeared on the album Extremely Live. "Ice Ice Baby" was rerecorded in a rap rock version titled "Too Cold". Originally intended to be released as a hidden track or B-side, "Too Cold" was featured on Van Winkle's 1998 album Hard to Swallow, and became a radio hit in some markets. In 2000, a remix titled "Ice Ice Baby 2001" was released in Europe as a single, with a newly-produced music video. The remix generated new international interest in Van Winkle's music.

Blender ranked "Ice Ice Baby" fifth on its list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever". In 1999, the song's music video was "retired" on the MTV special 25 Lame, in which Van Winkle himself appeared to destroy the video's master tape. Given a baseball bat, Van Winkle ended up destroying the show's set. In December 2007, the song was ranked No. 29 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's.