Vanilla Ice is once again defending his decision to perform at the Great American State Fair's Freedom 250 concerts in celebration of America's 250th anniversary.During an appearance on "The Story with Martha MacCallum," the 58-year-old rapper shared why he chose not back out of the performance, telling the host, "I don't like anybody telling me I can't be proud of my country.""I'm born here.I'm raised here.
I'm proud of it.I represent it everywhere I go.
I wear the American Flag everywhere I go.It's just a shame that it's going down like this.
I really don't think it's fair on us as musicians to have the pressure put on us like this, but it's a shame.It's a shame that we can't be proud."He added that he doesn't understand why this has become such an issue among fans and performers, saying he is "honored to do this once in a lifetime event," and that "this is still the greatest country in the world."Vanilla Ice is defending his decision to perform at Freedom 250's Great American State Fair.
(Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)ROCK THE COUNTRY FESTIVAL DEFENDS PATRIOTIC MESSAGE AFTER ARTISTS EXIT, 'LOVING AMERICA ISN'T POLITICAL'"I'm proud of it and I love it and I'm really really proud of all of our soldiers," he said."Those guys put their life on the line, some of them even lost their lives, and you gotta respect that.
This is our country, man.I can't believe people are even making a big deal out of this."The rapper first shared his excitement over performing at the celebration, in an Instagram video posted last week, in which he said he was "honored" to be performing at the event, promising to "bring back the 90s.""It’s all about enjoying the great times of 250 years.
From George Washington to now.All the presidents and everybody in between, this is a magical event that’s gonna happen," he said in the video.
"It’s very rare.I’m honored, man.
This is gonna be epic.And that’s it.
We don’t take anything too seriously, and we’re gonna bring the ‘90s,...