Vanilla Ice: Hip Hop's Original Industry Plant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnWdaJ4FvmQ

Seen as the ultimate crime by many fans, “industry plant” has become a dirty word that’s placed an asterisk next to countless artists’ careers including Cardi B, Chance The Rapper, Baby Goth, Post Malone, and many, many more.

Although way more prominent in hip-hop discourse than at any other time, it’s important to remember that industry plants only exist because the method of fine-tuning an artist’s image and sound has proven to work for major labels in the past. So, while there are plenty of contenders who could be considered for the title of the blueprint for industry plant, no man set the pace for what a pop-minded artist with no reservations about sacrificing credibility for commercial appeal could achieve quite like Robert Van Winkle. Better known as Vanilla Ice.