How Ice Spice's Successful Trajectory Beats The Twitter Discourse

One month after dropping “Munch (Feelin’ U),” Ice Spice signed to 10K Projects and Capitol Records. It’s an underrated advantage; rather than stumbling around through the internet wilderness in the hopes of striking gold again, she teamed with a squad of veteran marketers and industry strategists, including agent Cara Lewis and Zach Friedman and Tony Talamo, who both work as co-presidents of 10K. Speaking with Billboard, Ice Spice’s manager, James Rosemond Jr., explained that they promoted their singles independently first so they could prove her commercial power. After doing so, they were able to leverage that success into a joint label deal that they say grants her ownership of her masters and artistic freedom. With both an indie powerhouse and a major label at her back, she was positioned to maximize her breakout single. She did that, and then she did a lot more, as the track has earned over 80 million Spotify streams to date. The video has over 41 million YouTube views.

Rather than ride the momentum of her three singles, Ice Spice released her debut EP, Like..?, a cohesive and fun project that proved she wasn’t a fluke. It’s svelte but energetic, a collection of bite-size anthems that package Ice’s best qualities in a format that makes the most of her unbothered cool and natural charisma. Unlike other rappers who took a bit of time before dropping projects with their first major hit—a tendency powered by plans to milk their hit single for all it’s worth before discovering another one—Ice Spice took all of the momentum of her singles and put them on a project. And the bet paid off. It earned critical acclaim and bolstered her stream count. She knew everyone was looking, and she gave them something they couldn’t turn away from. 

In a moment of redemption, Ice Spice hit the stage to perform at Rolling Loud California this past March. Flaunting an improved stage presence and a level of confidence that wasn’t there when she performed in New York months earlier, Ice Spice took an important evolutionary step while the fans watched. Her set wasn’t long—just a bit under 15 minutes—but her songs are brief, and the catalog will grow. With summer at our doorstep, she should have plenty more opportunities to practice. 

Plaques aren’t everything, but Ice Spice’s gold plaque for “Munch (Feelin’ U)” was special as it was Ice Spice’s first. Based on how many YouTube views and streams it’s collected, it feels like it should only be a matter of time before it’s certified platinum, but for now, Ice Spice has some RIAA points on the board. 

After Kim Kardashian’s daughter North West drew a picture of Ice Spice in February, the Bronx rapper popped out to California, ostensibly for a hangout session with Kim’s young, artistic daughter a month later. But, it seems like there was more to that chill sesh—in April, Ice Spice and her pal Pink Pantheress were revealed to be the face of a new ad campaign for Kim’s shapewear line, Skims. This look was only her latest step toward pop culture ubiquity, and she only continued stepping. 

Ice Spice stunned when she pulled up to the Met Gala earlier this month. Plenty of folks have noted how rare it was that a star at such an early point of their career would be invited to the event. Lil Kim had been around since 1995, and she became the first woman rapper to hit the red carpet for the event in 1999. Eve was about four years into her career when she pulled up to the Met Gala in 2003. Other rappers who hit the Met Gala early in their career include Cardi B (2018) and Megan Thee Stallion (2021), who both earned invites a year after the release of their biggest singles. As far as men go, Q-Tip (2014), Ye (2013), Jay-Z (2015), Future (2017) and 21 Savage (2019) were all well into their careers when they attended the Met. So Ice Spice is an outlier—regardless of gender. But Anna Wintour clearly thought the Bronx spitter was worthy. There was an unexpected marketing component, too. Through a partnership with eBay and Vogue, Ice Spice gave a behind-the-scenes look at how she went about styling her outfit for the event. The collaboration represents a type of cross-functional popularity that goes beyond viral songs and acclaimed albums; Ice Spice had become at least as much of an idea as she was an MC. Appropriately, this same month, she collected a gold plaque for “In Ha Mood.” 

In another sign of outright dominance, Ice Spice was announced as being part of the soundtrack for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. According to the tracklist for the project, she’s slated to appear on Nicki Minaj’s new version of “Barbie Girl” with Aqua. The soundtrack is out July 21.

At this point, it began to feel like Ice Spice collected all of the clout infinity stones. Just a month after having Nicki Minaj appear on her “Princess Diana (Remix),” Ice Spice was announced as a featured performer on a remix for Taylor Swift’s “Karma.” T. Swift also gave Spice a Twitter shoutout doubling down on her co-sign: “Um. SO much to tell you. I’m a massive fan of this brilliant artist and after getting to know her I can confirm: she is THE ONE to watch.” While the feature represents a come-up, it also drew some side-eye from fans, who noted some uncomfortable Ice Spice-directed comments Swift’s purported boyfriend, Matty Healy, laughed at earlier this year. Some think it’s a PR move meant to draw attention from Healy's behavior, but Ice Spice's producer, RIOTUSA, uploaded an Instagram post that notes that he's been keeping this remix a secret for a few months. For her part, Swift told Spotify that it was actually Ice Spice's team that reached out to her about a potential collab, noting that Spice was a fan of the pop superstar.

A week after briefly performing alongside Taylor Swift, Ice Spice held down a set of her own. This time, it was at Hot 97’s annual Summer Jam, where she performed tracks like “Munch (Feelin’ U)” and “Gangsta Boo.” For the latter performance, Lil Tjay joined her to serve up his guest verse for the track. Showcasing her energy and a collection of hit singles, it was a memorable debut at the storied festival.