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Rapping 'Ice Ice Baby,' TMM Producer Doesn't Miss A Beat

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And now it's time for the regular feature we call In Your Ear. As we wind down production, you know our last show is August 1, we've been hearing the favorite music of the members of the TELL ME MORE team. In a few minutes, we're going to head into our Barbershop roundtable, and we're glad that fans of the Shop enjoy the conversation. But what you might not know is that there's a lot of work behind the scenes to make that happen. For some time now, producer Bridget De Chagas has been the unseen queen behind the scenes of the Barbershop, helping the guys select the topics and sharpen their arguments before they go on the air.

As you might imagine, they can be quite a handful, so here are some of the songs that keep her energy up.

BRIDGET DE CHAGAS, BYLINE: Hi, this is Bridget De Chagas. I am responsible for the Barbershop segment that you hear every Friday. It's been my signature segment, and sometimes people call me the barbershop queen.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ICE ICE BABY")

VANILLA ICE: (Singing) Yo, VIP, let's kick it.

DE CHAGAS: This is what's playing in my ear.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ICE ICE BABY")

VANILLA ICE: (Singing) Ice, ice, baby. Ice, ice, baby. Alright stop - collaborate and listen.

DE CHAGAS: My all-time favorite song, I was 12 - sixth grade - when the song came out, is "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice. And even to this day, like, it had to be played at my wedding. It's like, the number one song you can play to get me on the dance floor.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ICE ICE BABY")

VANILLA ICE: (Singing) Dance, watch the speaker that booms. I'm killing your brain like a poisonous mushroom. Deadly when I play a dope melody. Anything less than the best is a felony. Love it, or leave it, you better gang way. You better hit bull's eye, the kid don't play.

DE CHAGAS: And here's a little bit of the verse I really like. (Singing) All right stop, collaborate and listen. Ice is back with a brand-new invention. Something grabbed a hold of me tightly, like a harpoon daily and nightly. Will it ever stop? Yo. I don't know. Turn off the lights, and I'll glow. To the extreme I rock the mic like a vandal. Light up a stage and wax a chump like a candle. Dance.

OK, yes, that is a white girl rapping.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ICE ICE BABY")

VANILLA ICE: (Singing) If there was a problem, yo, I'll solve it. Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it. Ice, ice baby. Vanilla Ice, ice baby.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE REAL SLIM SHADY")

EMINEM: (Singing) May I have your attention please? May I have your attention please? Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?

DE CHAGAS: The other song that I really like is, not surprisingly, Eminem - I loved his song "The Real Slim Shady."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE REAL SLIM SHADY")

EMINEM: (Singing) Ya'll act like you've never seen a white person before. Jaws all on the floor like Pam, like Tommy just burst in the door and started whoopin' her ass worse than before they first were divorced, throwin' her over furniture. It's the return of the - ah, wait, no way you're kidding. He didn't just say what I think he did, did he?

DE CHAGAS: I remember, I think it was the 2000 MTV Music Awards, where he had like 100 Slim Shadies all in their jeans and white T-shirts, lined up on the stage, and I just thought he was so awesome.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE REAL SLIM SHADY")

EMINEM: (Singing) I'm Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady, all you other Slim Shadies are just imitating. So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up, please stand up, please stand up?

DE CHAGAS: I just think he really is who he is. And, that's a kid who grew up in urban Detroit. And he's owned that and he's made a lot of money being who he is, and - major props to him.

Another song that I really like is Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IN THE AIR TONIGHT")

PHIL COLLINS: (Singing) I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord.

DE CHAGAS: I just - every time I hear that song - it takes me back and it reminds me of like, driving through the night through the Grand Canyon because my father bought that album when we were kids. I think I was about eight years old, and he played it on this trip to California, like, almost the whole time. And it reminds me of that trip. And it reminds me of my dad and it reminds me of his ability to pack up his kids and his car every summer and drive across country. And it just makes me happy.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IN THE AIR TONIGHT")

COLLINS: I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord.

MARTIN: That was TELL ME MORE producer and editor Bridget De Chagas telling us what's playing in her ear. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.