Birth name Ian Campbell Role Rapper Name Ian Campbell | Years active 1989–present Origin Italy | |
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Born 22 March 1965 (age 59)
Hyson Green, Nottingham, England ( 1965-03-22 ) Occupation(s) Rapper, songwriter, painter Genres Eurodance, Techno, Hip hop music Record labels Polydor Records, Dance Pool Albums Ice'n'Green, Dreadatour, Ice 'n' Green: The Remix Al, Cinema, Happy Weekend Remix Similar People Alexia, DJ BoBo, Dr Alban, Haddaway, E‑Type | ||
Ian Campbell aka ICE MC (born 22 March 1965) is an English Eurodance rapper who started his professional music career in Italy when he got signed to Robyx.
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Early life
Campbell's parents were from Jamaica, and he grew up in the Hyson Green area of Nottingham. When he was in high school his initials IC quickly got him a nickname Ice (lately he interpreted it as Ian Campbell Esquire). In 1983, he joined a group of breakdancers and started touring Europe with them.
The first albums
In 1989 in Italy, he met singer and artist Roberto Zanetti (also as composer known as Savage and producer as Robyx). Their first single called "Easy", made in a hip-house style, came out in 1989. It became successful all over Europe, reaching the top 5 in Italy and the top 3 in Germany. The two next singles, "Cinema" and "Scream", and the subsequent debut album, Cinema (released later in 1990), were also successful. In 1992 his second LP, My World, came out but failed to achieve the success of its predecessor.
The most successful hits
His third album, Ice'n'Green, was released in 1994 and featured Alexia on vocals. Three of his most successful songs, "Think about the Way", "It's a Rainy Day" and "Take Away the Colour", made the charts all over the world. Campbell got a new look and new style, known as raggamuffin. The album was also released in the US, where the two biggest singles saw substantial club play and moderate dance music radio airplay. In 1995, Ice'n'Green – The Remix Album was released. This contained various remixes of previous hit singles.
Collaboration with Masterboy
In 1996, ICE MC decided to leave Zanetti and Alexia due to some disagreement between them. Shortly after that a new album, Dreadatour, (produced by Masterboy) was released. The hit from the album was "Give Me the Light", but the album itself was not very successful. During that period, ICE MC worked on an unreleased song with Masterboy titled "Busy Body". Later on in 1997, the same team followed with the promotional track "Energy".
At the end of 2002, he decided to return to Italy and to contact Zanetti again. Together they started writing some new material and, at the beginning of 2004, they began recording a new album, Cold Skool. Campbell is also a painter, and sells his paintings via his website.