Ice Ice Baby appears and rap goes pop

August 1990: Number 24 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of R&B and hip-hop musicHe was hailed as a hip-hop Elvis, the bequiffed white guy taking black music mainstream – but Vanilla Ice was destined for a footnote in hip-hop history. More important was that his Ice Ice Baby, and MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This, proved that rap could work as pop. Detractors had a field day – 3rd Bass brilliantly lampooned them both on Pop Goes the Weasel – but pop rap was here to stay.Hip-ho...

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