Comparison of “Ice Ice Baby” & “Under Pressure”



Comparison of “Ice Ice Baby” & “Under Pressure”

Introduction

The realm of music is besieged with a plethora of copyright infringement cases. This essay aims to present a comparison of two of the most renowned songs, namely: “Ice Ice Baby” and “Under Pressure”. The conflict surrounding the issue of copyright infringement has also been addresses. Vanilla's argument in favour of his song highlights the difference between the two songs. He claimed that he had sampled with Queen's tune and added an extra note to create a newer version. It is worth mentioning here that under the copyright law of the U.S., it is permitted to use an exact tune as the original one provided the derivative work is a parody. This does not however apply to the songs analyzed in this case because they were instrumental versions. Focus has also been placed on comparing and contrasting the lyrical theme of both the songs to emphasize how a similar tune has addressed two very different thought-pools.

Discussion

The song “Under Pressure” was recorded by Queen and David Bowie in the year 1981 and featured in Queen's album named “Hot Space” a year later. The song enjoyed its share of popularity, reaching the position of No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 31 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs Of The 80's. “Ice Ice Baby” was released in the year 1989 in the debut album of Vanilla Ice named “Hook”. The song belongs to the hip-hop genre in contrast to the “rock” song “Under Pressure” and was written by Vanilla Ice and DJ Earthquake. The bass line of “Under Pressure” has undoubtedly been sampled in the song.

In the past 23 years, “Ice Ice Baby” has managed to capture the attention of nearly every individual in the country. Children and adult, all sing along to the catchy rap of the song each time it is played. However, not many people are aware of the actual meaning behind the song. The popularity that this song enjoyed is in fact so massive that parents then and now barely seem to realize that the song is focused on rapping about guns and cocaine. The song's lyrics supporting this meaning are: "Shay with a gauge and Vanilla with a nine / ready for the chumps on the wall / the chumps acting ill because they're full of eight balls"

The usage of the term “D-shay” in the song instead of the word “D-J” is no verbal error. The artist here makes reference to one of his old buddies; someone whom he seemed to value considerably during the early stages of his music career. “Shay” is in fact a highly emphasized word in the song that is shouted out at more than one instance. "Shay with the gauge / Shay plays on the fade".

Perhaps one of the best ways to capture the attention of one's audience is to make an offering that varies from the general expectation. Vanilla has adopted the same methodology ...