Vanilla Ice: Play That Funky Music White Boy (1991)

The Ice age has evidently begun, and Play That Funky Music White Boy is a teaser for things to come. After hitting the coveted No. 1 spot on Billboard's pop album chart and holding it for weeks, Vanilla Ice has started a world tour, signed a movie contract, and cowritten his autobiography. That's what happens when you sell more than 6 million albums by riding the newest street sounds of rap with chiseled cheekbones and happy feet, meanwhile managing to spark enough controversy from an inaccurate public-relations bio to make Milli Vanilli blush.

There are only three music videos on the tape and no exclusive interviews to give the viewer any intimate contact with Vanilla Ice. All three videos feature the rapper doing what he does best: prancing in tightly choreographed formations with his posse of dancers. The first two clips, ''Ice Ice Baby'' and ''Play That Funky Music,'' should be all too familiar to even the most casual MTV viewers.

The video for his new single, ''Stop That Train,'' a sadomasochistic fantasy-horror piece, features quick cuts — Vanilla Ice dancing with his crew, a rapping Vanilla Ice superimposed over his crew, a model train running over terrain shaped like a woman's body, and female hands tying Vanilla Ice to train tracks. It's busy because the music drags a bit: At one point, the awkward reggae sample leaves the dancers absentmindedly flapping their arms. Frankly, nimble use of the record button on your VCR (tuned to MTV) makes more sense than buying this skimpy, short ''long-form'' video.

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