If we put Rage Against the Machine at one end of the “music is political” horseshoe and Kid Rock at the other, then Vanilla Ice would probably sit dead center. By his own admission, the 90s rapper (real name Robert Van Winkle) doesn’t believe music and politics should mix. For him, he’s there to provide entertainment, pure and simple.
That’s why he’s still on the lineup for the divisive Freedom 250 concert event, even after many artists have backed out. Initially, the concert series was billed as a non-partisan event to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. But after it was revealed that President Trump was heavily involved in backing the event, several artists withdrew from the lineup.
Morris Day & The Time, Young MC, Brett Michaels, The Commodores, and Martina McBride all dropped out when the news broke. Specifically, they claimed they were misled by the booking and were made to believe the event had no political affiliation.
But Vanilla Ice has stuck to his original plan of performing during the July concerts. Speaking with CBS News on June 1, he explained his stance on politics and music.
Vanilla Ice Just Wants to Entertain and Doesn’t Care Where He’s Doing It
“It’s simple as a pimple for me, there’s nothing to it,” said Vanilla Ice. “It’s the birthday of America. 250 years. It’s not anything to do with politics. I don’t know why they’re turning it into politics.”
That’s probably what the celebratory concerts should be, and Vanilla Ice has an idealistically utopian view of entertainment and the arts. In a perfect world, maybe it would just be about entertaining fans. Historically, however, the arts are so often tangled up in politics, and there’s never really been one without the other. But perhaps there’s room for both the Nina Simones and the Vanilla Ices at the table. In other words, some things have to be for pure entertainment in order to balance the heavy political statements.
Vanilla Ice seems to reject politics in everything, even admitting that he’s “never voted in [his] life.” Still, while he understood the artists’ fear of backlash, he also said, “For me, I’m just here to celebrate the country I was born in.”
When asked if he felt misled by how the concert was initially described, he replied, “When I play events, I never ask about them. I just go, ‘Where am I going?’ I don’t even know, and I don’t even care, because I have fans, and they have booked me to play a show.”
So, does Vanilla Ice think politics and music should be separate? “Heck yeah,” he said when asked. “They should never be in there. You should do whatever you feel like doing and express yourself. That’s what music is.”
He added, “I’d go play for anybody. Putin. Whoever. I’d go to Iran. Don’t matter. You can’t pick your fans. They pick you. You’re just an entertainer. Don’t ever try to think you’re anything beyond that.”
The post Vanilla Ice Defends His Decision to Stay on the Freedom 250 Concert Lineup: ‘You Can’t Pick Your Fans, They Pick You’ appeared first on VICE.
