In a new profile feature with The Guardian, rapper Ice Spice admitted that she was "nervous" about releasing more music after dropping her debut single "Bully Freestyle."
The 2021 track, which predates her breakthrough single "Munch (Feelin' U)," was well-received for the most part, but by the time she started putting out more tracks "everybody started talking shit."
“I was actually nervous to put music out, because people were talking so much shit, Ice Spice explained. "I started to realize that they were talking shit because the first song was received well—people only love you when nobody else does, really. But then, once other people start to love you, people have to hate to balance it out."
Elsewhere in the interview, she touched upon working with Nicki Minaj, who she considers to be a "mentor" of sorts. “She be telling me to learn from her mistakes – just watching her in general, if you pay close enough attention, you gonna see what you should do,” she said. “I love to talk to her about things that I can’t talk about publicly – it just means so much to be able to have somebody like her.”
Ever since the release of "Munch," Ice Spice has continued to gain popularity thanks to a string of catchy singles and high-profile collaborations. One of her biggest yet is with Taylor Swift, whom she collaborated with for the remix of "Karma."
She said it was "surreal" to be approached by Swift, one of the biggest artists in the world, and hear she was a fan. “I was like: ‘You fuck with my project? Like, what?’ She’s so sweet—I was so obsessed with how humble she was and willing to work. She gives me so much advice—we talk all the time and she’s so funny,” she said. “But I can’t say what she be telling me.”
One of the downsides of her increased fame, however, is that she can't go out in public as much anymore. "I’ll be thinking that I’m lowkey, but then people start to notice—and once one person notices, people start to form a crowd and then I be getting a little overwhelmed,” said Ice Spice, who hired security following the success of "Munch." “That’s the biggest thing to adjust to in real life—not being able to be outside as myself as much. I more gotta be, like, hiding a little bit.”
Read the full interview here.
