The People's Princess

Ice Spice’s ‘Rookie of the Year’ Title Divides Fans

Fans are divided over the latest title for “The People’s Princess”.

On Thursday, Billboard Magazine named rapper Ice Spice their “R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Year”. The pansexual powerhouse has influenced the cultural lexicon with use of the words “like”, featured heavily within her blasé delivery, and “munch”, a reference to men only being good for oral sex in her breakout hit of the same name. Additionally, she’s dominating the Billboard Hot 100 with four top 10 hits, including “Barbie World” alongside Nicki Minaj and Aqua, “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” with PinkPantheress, the remix to Taylor Swift’s “Karma”, and her solo hit “Princess Diana”. This Gen Z rapper has amassed a dedicated following and she hasn’t even released her debut album yet, but fans aren’t pleased with Billboard bestowing the compounded honor onto the 23-year-old rapper.

The reason isn’t too complex. Naming Ice Spice rookie of the year for hip-hop seems fairly reasonable, given her ascent. However, naming her rookie of the year for R&B is out of the question for fans. Listeners know that Ice Spice’s pen has created chill bars, but not R&B bops. So, having her take on the title of rookie for both genres doesn’t sit well with fans.

Honesty, putting R&B and hip-hop together and calling someone the rookie of the year for both feels lazy. Fans also bring up an interesting point on why two genres heavily influenced by Black artists are lumped together, but genres like country and rock, more commonly populated with white artists, aren’t combined. For example, newcomer Bailey Zimmerman was named Billboard’s “Rookie of the Year” for country music only. 

Fans don’t doubt the astronomical rise of “The People’s Princess”. With a fall tour around the corner with fellow rappers Doja Cat and Doechii and an ever increasing resume, Ice Spice is proving to the masses what she’s truly capable of. They just want to make sure that all of her titles fit appropriately.

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