Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1968 in Miami Lakes, Florida), better known as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, known today for the single "Ice Ice Baby" that topped the charts beginning in the early 1990s (see 1990 in music). At that time, he was also one of the very few successful white rappers.
Van Winkle's first foray into the music industry is the little-known album Hooked, released in 1989 on an independent label. Just 48,000 copies were sold, making it a rarity and something of a collector's item among fans.