Bi-Polar is the fourth studio album by Vanilla Ice. Released by Ultrax Records, it is the rapper's second independent release, after Hooked. The song "Unbreakable" was remade for Dance Dance Revolution II as "Still Unbreakable", with additional verses from Vanilla Ice himself and production from Konami in-house artist Des-ROW. As of 2002, the album sold 10,645 copies in the United States.
Production
The album was initially planned as a double album consisting of one disc of rock music (Skabz) and one disc of hip hop music (Bomb Tha System). Before its release, it was decided that the two parts of the album would be released on one disc, with each part labeled. Each side of the booklet features a different cover for each part. Skabz features appearances from heavy metal music figures such as former Slipknot guitarist Josh "Gnar" Brainard, Roy Mayorga, and Billy Milano. Bomb Tha System notably features appearances from Insane Poetry's Cyco, Chuck D (of Public Enemy fame), the Insane Clown Posse, and Wu-Tang Clan affiliate La the Darkman. In the initial publicity for the album, Vanilla Ice claimed that the album would feature a guest appearance from Lenny Kravitz.
Although Vanilla Ice is credited as "V-Ice" and "Ice" on the album, there was never any intent to change his stage name. The performer is quoted as saying "people are asking me that question [...] there's no name change. I'm proud of it and I'm not trying to run from anything or hide from anything."
According to a Sony BMG executive, sales of Bi-Polar were "not bad...for Vanilla Ice. That's pretty respectable. Seriously."
Reception
The album was universally panned by critics. Bradley Torreano of Allmusic greatly disliked the album, calling it "wildly uneven and at times hilariously bad". Torreano referred to the album's heavy metal-influenced songs as being "terribly generic" and derivative of bands such as Korn and Deftones. Torreano praised the production of the hip hop songs, but described their lyrics as "boring and simplistic", and felt that the inclusion of the phone messages at the end of the album was not necessary. Torreano called "Elvis Killed Kennedy" "the best song on the album" and described it as "a sadly rare example of the talent that Chuck D still has".