reality rapper redo
Ice Ice Closing Costs: Texan Vanilla Ice transforms into a house-flipping,real-estate mogul
Robert van Winkle, the Dallas native also known as Vanilla Ice, is taking lemons and making lemonade. The 42-year-old who gained acclaim as the first hip hop artist to ever top the Billboard charts is capitalizing on the real estate downturn by flipping foreclosed houses, a career switch which will be documented in the new DIY Network program, The Vanilla Ice Project. Premiering on Oct. 14, the show demonstrates his handyman prowess.
His highly successful remodel comes as no surprise, as he rapped in his 1990 hit, "Ice Ice Baby," "If there was a problem yo I'll solve it; Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it."
In truth, Vanilla's been in the real estate market for 13 years, striking it rich in the Florida housing boom with homes going for between $300,000 and $1.5 million. In an interview with the New York Times, he proclaims that he has absolutely no interest in design, simply explaining, "It's fun swinging a hammer, man, and being one of the guys. Your workers look at you like you're one of them."
The Vanilla Ice Project follows van Winkle and his team as they outfit a gutted, 7,000-square-foot, six-bedroom Palm Peach tax-lien property. As part of the foreclosure, everything from cabinets, sinks, toilets and floors was seized.
"It worked out good for me," Ice states, "because it shows really nasty on the show, and then we fix it up amazing."
Expect such classy accoutrements as an infinity edge pool, lined with color-changing spinning fire planters. "We keep it inoffensive," van Winkle explains. With the aid of a fiber optics-based sensor, the rooms will have mood lighting: "If you're in a bad mood, the lights will go red, and they'll go blue if you're in a good mood."
Tune into the DIY Network to see how "The Vanilla Ice Project" will affect your own mood. In the meantime, Kick it to the original hit, "Ice Ice Baby." Or a remix of this classic.
