On Wednesday, XXL's anticipated 2023 Freshman Class cover dropped. As fans analyzed the lineup, many wondered why Ice Spice was not featured.
After her rising popularity, the "Princess Diana" rapper's fanbase looked forward to seeing her on the cover. But, unfortunately, it looks like she declined the offer to do so. According to TMZ, Spice declined the opportunity due to her schedule just being too busy as she was booked up with festival appearances and feature requests.
But... when the outlet reported the news on Twitter, XXL's Editor-in-chief Vanessa Satten replied to the post, writing, "Not really the whole story or given excuse but okay." Satten, who also replied to a post from RapTV, didn't elaborate.
Nearly one year ago, Spice's "Munch" went viral. Since then, she has achieved over one billion streams on Spotify, along with charting several songs on featured Billboard Hot 100. On top of that, she's worked with Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift.
In other news, the rising artist was profiled for Teen Vogue's June cover. In the interview, the 23-year-old MC spoke on her rise to fame. "I'm most proud of staying grounded so far because I've already been through so many things that I know a lot of people would've lost their fucking minds," she said.
Spice continued, "The whole lifestyle change is super drastic, especially coming from where I come from, not coming from sh*t and not having a lot growing up, so now — it's the complete opposite…. Even though it's a positive change, it's still a change."
XXL's 2023 Freshman Class cover includes "F.N.F (Let's Go)" rapper GloRilla, Lola Brooke, Rob49, Luh Tyler, Fridayy, Central Cee, and more. Head over to XXL to check out all of the rappers.
