Ice Spice

Isis Naija Gaston(born January1, 2000), known professionally asIce Spice, is an American rapper. Born and raised inthe Bronx,New York City, she began her musical career during college in 2020, after meeting record producerRiotUSA. Her rapping style has been noted by music journalists, who have described her as a "breakout star".
Ice Spice gained major recognition in late 2022 with her song "Munch (Feelin' U)", which went viral onTikTok. After signing with10K Projectsin a joint venture withCapitol Records, she released the singles "Bikini Bottom" and "In Ha Mood" to promote her debutextended play(EP),Like..?(2023). The EP spawned theBillboardHot 100-top ten single "Princess Diana" (withNicki Minaj), and peaked at number 15 on theBillboard200. She saw continued success with her collaborative singles released that same year: "Boy's a Liar Pt. 2" (withPinkPantheress), "Karma" (withTaylor Swift), and "Barbie World" (with Nicki Minaj andAqua), all of which peaked within the top-ten of theBillboardHot 100. This made Ice Spice the only rapper to release four songs that achieved top-ten status in 2023. Her 2024 single, "Think U the Shit (Fart)" preceded the release of her debut studio album,Y2K!(2024).
She is the recipient of several accolades, including theMTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, thePeople's Choice Awardfor "New Artist of the Year," and the Impact Award from theBMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards. She has received fourGrammy Awardsnominations, includingBest New Artist.
Isis Naija Gastonwas born on January 1, 2000,inthe Bronx,New York City.The oldest of five siblings,Gaston is ofmixed ethnicity; her father—Joseph Gaston—is African American, while her mother—Charina Almanzar—isDominican.The two met at aMcDonald'sin New York; Joseph was anunderground rapper, and Charina worked at acar dealership. Charina was seventeen when she gave birth to Gaston.The two divorced when Gaston was two years old.
Gaston spent much of her childhood with her grandparents and cousins. They moved out of Davidson Ave in 2007 and moved to University.She went to school in the Bronx until the 5th grade, and to a CatholicSacred Heart High SchoolinYonkers, where she graduated in 2018.At age seven, she took a liking tohip hopafter listening to rappers likeLil' Kim,Nicki Minaj, and others.French Montanaused to visit her elementary school when Isis was in the fourth grade.She wrotepoetryandfreestyle rapsfrom then to high school. In an interview withBillboard, Isis explained that she grew up listening to the likes ofJay-Z,50 Cent, andWu-Tang Clanbecause of her father's rap background.She would type out lyrics in theNotesapp of her iPhone, listening to hip-hop instrumentals and rapping out loud to them.Gaston explained: "When I saw Nicki [Minaj], I was so mesmerized. She's the first female rapper that I seen. And ever since then, I was kinda set on what I wanted to be." She chose Ice Spice as her stage name while she was a freshman in high school.
Gaston attendedState University of New York at Purchase, where she was a defensive specialist on the school's volleyball team and studied communications.In seven matches, she had two kills and nine digs in the 2018 season.Around her sophomore year, Gaston dropped out of SUNY Purchase, later explaining that she did not believe the school was the right fit for her, and attributing her leaving college to the "strenuous commute".She worked as a cashier atWendy'sandThe Gap.She also attempted to work at a local street market in the Bronx area, but quit after one day of working.
Ice Spice started rapping in 2020 after meeting with a record producer,RiotUSA.He produced her debut song, "Bully Freestyle", released in March 2021 after a video of Ice Spice doing the "Buss It" challenge went viral onTwitter.Her song "Name of Love" gained traction onSoundCloud, which led to her becoming popular onInstagram.
On August 10, 2022, Ice Spice released her song "Munch (Feelin' U)", accompanied with a video distributed byWorldStarHipHop,as the lead single from her then-untitled debut EP,Like..?. The song gained popularity after getting support fromDrake, who played the song on hisSirius XMradio station, Sound 42.It subsequently went viral on Twitter andTikTok, and charted onBillboard'sHot R&B/Hip-Hop SongsandBubbling Under Hot 100charts.In September 2022, Ice Spice appeared as a featured artist on the song "One Time" byB-Lovee.Later that month, she signed a record deal with10K ProjectsandCapitol Records.On October 28, she released the single "Bikini Bottom".
Ice Spice's debut EP,Like..?, was released on January 20, 2023, and included the singles "Munch (Feelin' U)", "Bikini Bottom", and "In Ha Mood".In February 2023, Ice Spice collaborated withLil Tjayon the tribute single "Gangsta Boo" to the laterapper of the same name, which became her first song on theBillboardHot 100at No. 82.On February 3, 2023, the remix of singerPinkPantheress's song, "Boy's a Liar Pt. 2" featuring Ice Spice and the corresponding music video were released. The song peaked at No. 3 on theBillboardHot 100, the highest charting position for either artist at the time.In April 2023, she released the remix of "Princess Diana" withNicki Minaj.The song peaked at number four on the Hot 100, earning Ice Spice her second top-ten hit on the chart and the twenty second top-ten hit for Minaj.
On May 24, 2023, a remix ofTaylor Swift's "Karma" featuring Ice Spice, was announced for release on May 26, 2023. The remix is a bonus track on the special editions of Swift's tenth studio album,Midnights(2022).A music video for the remix, featuring Swift and Ice Spice, was released on May 27.Pitchforkdescribed 2023 as the breakout year of Ice Spice."Karma" peaked at number two on the Hot 100, making Ice Spice the artist with the most Hot 100 top-five singles in 2023.On June 26, she released "Barbie World" withNicki Minajwhich debuted at number 7 on the Hot 100.The deluxe version ofLike..?, featuring five new tracks, was released on July 21, 2023.
On November 14, 2023, she teased an upcoming project titledY2K!slated for 2024.She released the single "Think U the Shit (Fart)" as its lead single in January 2024.Y2K!, was released on July 26, 2024, and sold 28,000 copies for its first week.The project received mixed reviews from fans and critics, withVarietynoting Ice Spice's contribution to thedrillsubgenre, stating thatY2K!"struck the right equilibrium between street and pop sensibility — just hard enough for rap purists, softened around the edges for broader appeal — and set the table for what was leaning toward a mainstream breakthrough with her debut album."NPRdescribed the album as "almost crudely basic" and that Ice Spice "presses into syllables and pulls them apart like Play-Doh...she can make rapping itself feel like an afterthought, so trivial to her day-to-day routine that putting in the minimum effort makes a weirdly intuitive sense."On August 1, 2024, Ice Spice added a bonus track to the album titled "GYAT."
On November 1, 2024, Ice Spice, along withSnoop Dogg, performed inTimes Squareto promote the "Chapter 2 Remix" season inFortnite, with outfits and stylized cosmetics based on Ice Spice being available for purchase in the game.OnNew Year's Eveof 2024, Ice Spice arrived 25 minutes late to her Wildlands Festival set inBrisbane. Despite being the headline act, her microphone was cut off five minutes into the performance.
Ice Spice's music is primarilyBronx drill.Her name came from a "finsta" (fake Instagram account) she made at age 14.She has said she writes all her own lyrics,though she does not consider herself a lyricist.She explained that she prefers her lyrics to be "super simple" and "digestible".
In a 2022 feature forRolling Stonetitled "My Life in 10 Songs", Ice Spice includedColdplay's song "Yellow" andthe 1975's song "Sex" on her list. She stated, "When I was 13 or 14, I was playing [The 1975] all the time. It was my shit, I think it's because they're from Europe and he [Matty Healy] has that [British] accent. It was a thing for me."
Ice Spice was first inspired to start rapping bySheff GandPop Smoke, and has listedLil' Kim,Nicki Minaj,Cardi B,Foxy Brown, andRemy Maas musical influences due to their New York roots.She has also calledErykah Badu,Rihanna,Taylor Swift, andLauryn Hillinspirations because of their "graceful angelic vibe of timeless beauty".
Ice Spice isbisexual.She relocated toNew Jerseyfollowing her career breakthrough.
Lattoand Ice Spice have been compared in the media as rivals, with reports of tension between them since 2022.The origin of the feud remains unclear. The feud gained internet attention in January 2023 when fans interpreted a lyric from "Princess Diana" off of her EP "Like..?", as a jab at Latto.
A year later, the feud began to escalate after Latto released a snippet of her then-unreleased song "Sunday Service", where the music video for Ice Spice's song "Pretty Girl" could be seen on the TV in the background; just hours later; Ice Spice released a snippet of her own unreleased diss track by the name of "Think U the Shit (Fart)".
In May 2024, Ice Spice received backlash from fans of former collaborator Nicki Minaj after a former close friend,Baby Storme, leaked text messages between herself and Ice Spice in which Ice Spice called Minaj "ungrateful" and "delusional."Storme later admitting to regretting what she did and claimed that aschizophrenic episodemay have triggered the incident.
In July 2024, Ice Spice became involved in a separate controversy when social media influencerMadeline Argy, a former girlfriend of the rapperCentral Cee, accused him of cheating on her with Ice Spice.
In September 2024, New York rapper Cleotrapa, who opened for Ice Spice on the U.S. leg of the Y2K! Tour, posted a six-part video to TikTok criticizing Ice Spice's treatment of her on tour, calling her a "fake friend" and alleging she was unpaid for her performances, forced to handle her own luggage and left to arrange her own accommodations. The controversy garnered significant public attention, with artists Baby Storme andAzealia Banksvoicing their support for Cleotrapa.