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Vanilla Ice: pop culture's dead and the iPhone killed it, do you agree?

Published: Jul 14, 2021, 7:49 AM

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Vanilla Ice: pop culture's dead and the iPhone killed it, do you agree?

What's up with white rapper Vanilla Ice (before it was cool to be a white rapper), besides playing at Mar-a-Lago's New Year's Eve bash and getting in hot water about it?

Bring back the 90s, that's what's up with Vanilla Ice, and not because that's when his smash "Ice, Ice, Baby" hit appeared, but rather since pop culture as a phenomenon died with the decade, according to him.

Before you say that this is crazy, you have to remember that this is Vanilla Ice, and he always has well thought-out arguments to back even his wildest claims up. As you can hear in the impromptu interview with the singer here, that living, breathing popular culture with the matching cool clothes and the hit songs played on loop that took the globe by storm unabated for many years on end, is dead. Why?

Well, the iPhone killed it. Metaphorically, of course, but Vanilla Ice has a point. According to the performer very few really "cool" and original creations have happened since computers, cell phones, and streaming. Case in point, he says, everything retro and cool from the 90s and 80s is now in vogue, from electronic Seiko watches, to Air Jordans, boomboxes, bikini and neon.

When asked about one more thing he'd bring back from the 90s, he surprises us with "Blockbuster," as, despite the smorgasbord of streaming services, we are even more perplexed what to watch and how to entertain ourselves than when a trip to the video store was a "whole thing." What do you think about his death-by-iPhone theory?

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.