Tupac Shakur left a massive imprint on hip-hop in his tragically short life. Few rappers commanded your attention on the microphone as he did. His deeply poignant, emotional lyrics about his pain and plight resonated with fans just as much as his unwavering charisma and likability on hit songs. In the years after his death, you can see flashes of Pac in so many different artists. From Future to Kendrick Lamar, anyone who dominates the rap discussion owes a debt of gratitude to him.
However, as much of a positive impact as Shakur left behind, he also left some unexpected trails in hip-hop’s illustrious history. For instance, could you imagine Tupac giving Vanilla Ice sound advice as he tried to blaze his way into the culture? In a lengthy profile covering the 30-year anniversary of “Ice Ice Baby”, the one-hit wonder recalled coming up in the culture in Dallas, Texas.
Back then, he was a dancer who wanted to try his hand at the art of rhyming. By the time he blew up, though, rappers and media members were plenty skeptical about him in the aftermath of “Ice Ice Baby”.
All of it culminated on The Arsenio Hall Show, where the host and comedian grilled Vanilla Ice about his love for Black culture. Even though he gave credit where it was deserved, he was visibly rattled and nearly gave up his dreams. Then, Pac came in.
Tupac Gave Vanilla Ice Crucial Advice To Keep His Rap Dreams Alive
Around the time he’d made “Same Song” with Digital Underground and was preparing to make 2Pacalypse Now, Vanilla Ice would perform concerts with them. So Pac saw firsthand how much people were grilling hip-hop’s first big one-hit wonder. But instead of leaving him out to dry, he gave him the encouragement he needed to keep pushing through, regardless of the criticism.
“Tupac was one of the biggest Vanilla Ice supporters you ever met,” Ice told Jeff Weiss for The Ringer. “He gave me great advice: Keep your head up, don’t let no haters f***ing keep you down, keep doing your thing, and don’t focus them people ain’t paying for your bills. You know who is? The ones that’re buying it. Focus on them.”
Vanilla Ice did keep going, even if it didn’t lead to any more substantial hits in his catalog. Though, the two never crossed paths again, Tupac passed away far too soon.
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