Ice Cream (Raekwon song)

Background

The song uses different flavor variants of ice cream as a metaphor for different races of women. Raekwon later commented "we wanted to reach out and let the women know that we respected them as queens. And queens, much like ice cream, come in all different flavors." He also said: "The writing and recording process of 'Ice Cream' was fun! The song's focus was to highlight and represent beautiful women of all colors by describing them as flavors of ice cream. The sound from the ice cream truck was a perfect way to put us in the pocket, and the hook really made it easy to attack the song."

When producing the beat for the song, Raekwon stated: "RZA produced the record. We needed something soft but heartfelt for the album. I wanted to make sure women were incorporated in this concept, they played such a huge part in hip-hop culture... I had to make it happen!"

Samples

• "Ice Cream Man" by Eddie Murphy (the repeated phrase "The Ice Cream Man is coming!!")
• "Ice Cream Man (rare demo)" by Method Man
• "A Time For Love" by Earl Klugh
• "The Breakdown (Part II)" by Rufus Thomas

Music video

The music video was filmed near the Jamaica Colosseum Mall in Jamaica, Queens and it features a cameo by Sam Sneed, Shyheim, Tyson Beckford, Soul For Real, and Irv Gotti. The director of the music video, Ralph McDaniels, said: "The most challenging thing about shooting 'Ice Cream' was controlling the crowd once the public found out the group was in Jamaica, Queens. My favorite moment is Ghostface in the Jamaica Colosseum Mall rapping to a home girl. That was a classic, because we cast her on location." McDaniels also said: "I wanted women to love the video. 'The Ice Cream man is coming' was the first thing that caught my ear. We had to have a kid yelling that part, and the reference to the flavors. Butter Pecan Rican, Chocolate Deluxe, French Vanilla and Caramel Sundae. We had to have women that represented that complexion. The T-Shirts on the women in the video are collector's items."

Raekwon stated: "We really didn't get super fresh because of the fast timing of shooting. We didn't have any stylist at the time; that's what made it so authentic. There were a few celebs there, and they were just chilling with us, having fun."

The music video for "Ice Cream" was one of two Raekwon music videos that were shot in that same weekend. The other music video was for the song "Incarcerated Scarfaces".

Track listing

Side 1

1. "Ice Cream" (LP version)
2. "Ice Cream" (Instrumental)

Side A

1. "Incarcerated Scarfaces" (LP version)
2. "Incarcerated Scarfaces" (Instrumental)

Charts

References

References

1. Ma, David. [http://www.waxpoetics.com/2009/07/cuban-linx-revisited-interview-with-raekwon/3/ ''Cuban Linx'' Revisited (page 3)] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-02-29 . waxpoetics.com. Retrieved 2010-07-27.)
2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbRJG6f04fQ The Making of 'Ice Cream' (Vevo Footnotes)].
3. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbRJG6f04fQ The Making of 'Ice Cream' (Vevo Footnotes)].
4. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbRJG6f04fQ The Making of 'Ice Cream' (Vevo Footnotes)]
5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbRJG6f04fQ The Making of 'Ice Cream' (Vevo Footnotes)]
6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbRJG6f04fQ The Making of 'Ice Cream' (Vevo Footnotes)]