All right, stop.
Collaborate and listen.
Ice is coming here, a brand-new edition.
'90s jams grabbed hold of you tightly, then you got older daily and nightly.
Will it ever stop? Yo, you gotta know,
In Prince George lights, they're gonna glow.
To the extreme, no childhood vandals.
These are the real things, it's not a gamble.
Dance, go rush the speaker that booms
Working CN Centre like a magical mushroom,
Deadly, when they play favourite old melodies
Anything less than the best is a felony
Love it or leave it, you better gain way
You better hit bull's eye, the kid don't play
If there was a problem, yo, they'll solve it
Check out the hook - retro DJs revolve it
And it really is Vanilla Ice, baby.
Some quintessential acts of the 1990s Top 40 dance clubs are working together to revive the era of MTV parties. Vanilla Ice is just one of the familiar faces who'll be on stage at CN Centre on Sept. 17.
These are not tribute acts, these are the real things. They were massive in those days. It would have been unfathomable to think C+C Music Factory, Salt N Pepa, Young MC and Rob Base would ever tour to northern Canada at their peak, but time has a way of hitting rewind on the cassette tape.
The hit list of these artists could form the playlist of a karaoke festival. Half the reluctantly middle-aged can crack off the lyrics around choruses like "Joy and pain (pump it up, pump it up), sunshine and rain (keep it goin', keep it goin')" or "Girl says she wants to dance to a different groove, now you know what to do so you bust a move (You want it, baby you got it) - just bust a move."
If someone says to one of these children of the '90s "let's talk about sex, baby," their automatic response is "let's talk about you and me."
If you pose a conundrum, they reply with "things that make you go hmmm."
These acts may be a reflection of times gone by, but there is a clear path from today's hiphop and urban pop back to these ground-breakers. If you look past the comical clothes (they were flamboyant even then) and simplistic song structures, you get schooled in the construction of rap rhymes, melody layers and a severe beat complex.
This travelling roadshow of 1990s dance rap is one of the hits of the year all across North America. A slate of acts have signed on for the continental tour, and Prince George gets full value for the stars on the stage. Every one of them has a song (or several) that absolutely everyone knew by heart back in the day.
Tickets go on sale at CN Centre box office and at Ticketmaster online starting at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Y'all want this party started, right? Y'all want this party started quickly. So on Sept. 17 here we go - let's rock 'n' roll to please your soul. Everybody dance now. Let the music take control. Let the rhythm move you.
