Matt Rhoden

"Back on the Beat"

(these "interviews" appeared originally on RevolutionOffline.com humor website in 2000)

You may or may not remember Black Vanilla as the rapper who brought us the song/catch phrase "Who Dey Do?" but the story of Black Vanilla is an interesting one. In 1983, he was the sole African American vocalist in the teen harmony sensation White Chocolate. As puberty took hold, changing Black's voice and forcing him from the group's ever-changing line-up, the rapper went solo, taking on the name Ice Milk. His debut solo album, Fudge Swirl, had disappointing sales, and his manager, Diamond Dog, fearing that the market was glutted with "Ice" performers, decided some re-tooling was in order. He created a persona for the rapper, based on a reversal of the concept that brought Elvis to stardom: having a white kid who could perform like a black kid. Diamond Dog wanted a black kid who could rap like a white kid. The concept was so confusing and ill-guided that it just had to succeed -- In 1990, Black Vanilla's "Who Dey Do?" shot to the top of the pop charts and stayed there for seven months.

I'm sure you remember the marching bands at the college football games playing the tune on their tubas. If you were a Mets fan in 1990, you would know that the song was played over the loudspeakers of Shea Stadium each time the home team was victorious. The song's verses commented on the hassles from The Man such as being pulled over in a white neighborhood, being framed for drugs and so on. The chorus, as I'm sure you recall, summed it up saying, "Who dey! Who dey! Who dey do, who dey do?!" "Who dey do?" became so prevalent in our lexicon that once while introducing a story on the IRS, Tom Brokaw announced, "Who dey? Who dey? Who dey do? Who dey do?" and then answered his own question, "Dey do you. Dey do you."

But, like all good things, the popularity of the song eventually waned and people in singles clubs began dancing to Tone Loc and C & C Music Factory. Black Vanilla is still alive and well and self-producing a new record under the name Bivwack. I caught up with Black Vanilla in the mixing room of Vermilion Studios in Ithaca, New York.

* * *

I press the buzzer and momentarily am ushered in by the black rapper who wears a warm-up suit and a toboggan with the tag still attached. As I follow him into the mixing room, I can hear a compelling rhythm over the lyrics, "Beat That Booty. . .Beat That Booty. . . "

MATT RHODEN: Let's talk about when you were on top, Black. Can I call you Black?

BLACK VANILLA: Call me Bivwack.

MR: Bivwack, what happened that day in Central Park?

BV: What we was tryin' to do was real positive, right. I mean, you know, my boy Marky Mark had gone out and thrown money to the audience, and that was real dope, so we was tryin' to do the same thing.

MR: But you were throwing pennies. And you had just driven onto the stage in a gold Rolls Royce. I think people thought you were dissing them.

BV: We wasn't dissin' nobody. See, we was gonna throw out a lot more money, but my boy (Diamond Dog) had spent all the money on the Rolls. So all we had was like fifty dollars, and that ain't much in New York. He had it broke into pennies so, you know, it would be more to throw.

MR: Let's face it, Biv, what happened that day would have happened even without the pennies. Things had simply reached a boiling point. It was the hottest day in August, you're in New York city and "Who Dey Do" had been on the charts for so long, and people were tired of it, Black! The media tried to make some racial thing out of the riot that went down, but we all saw the video, and there were all types in that melee -- black, white, yellow, male, female, young, old -- and, Black, they were trying to kill you. Were you ever afraid for your life?

BV: See, what people ain't down with, is Black Vanilla don't remember nothin'. All I know is one minute, I'm sayin' "Who dey do, Who dey do," and the next minute, some old lady throw somethin' at me. A cane or somethin'. And then it just [SNAPS] it all goes.

MR: When can we expect to see you perform again?

BV: My insurance company ain't down with me goin' on stage. But I got this new record that's so fresh: "Beat That Booty."

MR: Is this meant to be controversial?

BV: See, it ain't about violence. I ain't sayin', you know, go out and find someone and beat they booty. I'm just sayin', like, you know, beat that booty. Know what I'm sayin'?

MR: Oddly, I do. What's the response been from people who have heard it? Do they like it?

BV: Yeah, they down with it. Till they find out it's Black Vanilla.

Black Vanilla at the height of "Who Dey Do?"