Ice Spice is Like…Already Legendary

Ice Spice is the mood. Ice Spice is the moment. Ice Spice is bigger than the Beatles. Ice Spice is a Bronx girl taking over the world. Ice Spice is the reason Matty Healy and Taylor Swift broke up. I mean, not really, but we can dream. 

The point is that Ice Spice, at 23, is one of the most daring and powerful talents we have, and she wasted absolutely no time getting here. 

Before releasing her first EP, she was already iconic. Images of Spice from the music video for her 2022 viral hit “Munch (Feelin’ U)” started showing up online shortly after with alarming, delightful regularity. The image of Spice—bright ginger curls, mint green bralette, cutoff jeans and long orange nails with her tongue sticking out—oozed confidence. This was a woman who, at 22, already knew exactly who she was. Her EP “Like.. ?” only confirmed it. From her irreverent rapping style to her fresh fashion, we were all prepared to stan. And stan we did: within a few short months, Ice Spice went from a TikTok sensation to a top 3 billboard artist. And now, she’s the latest featured artist on Taylor Swift’s tour. Oh, and did we mention she’s queer?

You’d be forgiven for not knowing: her coming out, true to the label-free spirit of Gen-Z, consists of a tossed-off lyric in her single “Bikini Bottom.” Because as with everything else with Spice, it’s no big deal. She’s not interested in being a queer rapper: she’s interested in being the biggest rapper on Earth. And we can’t wait for her to become it. 

Related:

New VINCINT, Janelle Monáe, and More on This Week’s Queer Music Mixtape

This week’s new sun-soaked LGBTQ+ music drops are bringing the island vibes and heating us up under the collar.

She started rapping while at SUNY purchase: her raps caught the attention of producer RiotUSA, and by 2021, she was already racking up numbers on TikTok for her first single, “Bully Freestyle.” Drake started singing her praises. From there, icon status wasn’t far off.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ice Spice (@icespice)

The drill rapstress Isis Gaston chose “Ice Spice” as her IG handle before she started rapping. It ended up being perfectly true to her artist persona: equal parts cool and hot, Ice Spice’s style is full of self-assured bluster. She knows who she is: the coolest person on the planet. And she intends to stay that way for a long, long time. 

“I just wanted to make a lit song,” the rapper told Genius after “Bikini Bottom” came out. “I asked Riot[USA] to make me a Spongebob-type beat.” What emerged wasn’t just a coming out song, in which Spice talks about liking (and being too good for) both women and men. “How can I lose if I’m already chose” is a testament to her belief in herself, her sheer unstoppability. Like all visionary artists, she had to create her own language (we have her to thank for bringing “munch” into the wider lexicon.) 

But it’s not just Spice’s lyrics that keep catching our attention: it’s her attitude. She’s already reached heights few dream of, and she’s done it on the strength of her talent, personality, and self-assured sense of her own genius at the game. She’s already collaborated with Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift, and she’s doing both artists a favor. Because having Spice as a featured artist on your track isn’t just a selling point: it’s a way of magnetizing listeners eager to hear what the future sounds like.

Because of all this, Ice Spice remains unstoppable. She knows how great she is, and in a world where Black women are constantly devalued, stolen from, and told to humble themselves, what’s greater than that?