Slanguage experts: origin of "like white on rice"?

Factual Questions
1

“Like white on rice” is one of those phrases that I don’t remember hearing for most of my life, then suddenly hearing over and over again within the space of a few months. People are all over things “like white on rice.”

It’s not hard to figure out what it means, of course. White. Rice. No map need be drawn.

But I’m curious about its origins. I’m sure it’s been around a while, but I have no idea where it comes from, how long it’s been around, where it originated, etc.

I know slang origin questions are often hard to answer, but does anyone know more about where this came from?

2

Is it not “like white on rye”? Like two different slices of bread?

3

I’ve heard “white on rice”. Mark Jones of ABC/ESPN likes to use to describe a defensive back covering a receiver closely.

4

I’m pretty sure that Muhammad Ali used it in the 1960s. I also think Ali got a lot of his lines from Bundini.

5

Googlefight (the source of all truth) proves me an idiot.
http://www.googlefight.com/cgi-bin/compare.pl?q1="like+white+on+rye"&q2="like+white+on+rice"&B1=Make+a+fight!&compare=1&langue=us

Ignore me please and carry on.

6

Google pulls up 5 examples of “white on rye,” and about 3700 examples of “white on rice.”

I’m thinking rice is more popular than rye, but it’s interesting to see the variation. (Although one of the rye links mentions that the guy misheard rice, so it’s a pretty minor variation.)

It’s also interesting to see that “white on rice” is slang for a Caucasian/Asian romantic relationship…

7

First time I ever heard it was on an episode of Miami Vice.

8

I first heard the phrase in Whodini’s 1984 dance hit “The Freaks Come Out at Night”:

"Now the party’s jumpin’, the place is packed
And when the crowd’s like this, I’m ready to rap
But before I could bust a rhyme on the mic
Freaks are all over me like white on rice"

9

I was born in 1960, grew up in a college town in Mississippi.

IIRC I’ve heard it all my life.

10

It came from the south, Muhammed Ali got it rolling publicly, and Larry Holmes barked it out alot.

I heard it in gyms in the early 80’s in Philly, where fighters took on a lot of inlfuence from such personalities as Holmes and Ali.

I know many wrestlers (WWE) were products of gyms, and they brought it to another popular media.

11

Very old, very wise Cajun people used the phrase when I was a tiny child. I assume it’s been in use at least as long as the phrase “high cotton.”

12

Very old, very wise Cajun people used the phrase when I was a tiny child. I assume it’s been in use at least as long as the phrase “high cotton.”

13

One variation (among many) is: “I’ll be on you like stink on shit.”

14

The best of both worlds, courtesy of Sealab 2021: “They’ll be on me like stink on rice.”

15

At first glance, I thought that maybe it was derived from the popular phrase “black on night”, but as the google search “black on night” revealed exactly 13 hits, I think my theory has been shot down.