By Giselle Medina | 30 June 2023
“He say that I'm good enough, grabbin' my duh-duh-duh / Think about sh* that I shouldn't have (huh)...” has been running through my brain since Ice Spice and Pink Panthress released "Boy’s a Liar pt. 2" in February. But I'm not the only one. This duo went viral on TikTok with over 2 million posts using the song on the app.
But that wasn’t the first time Ice Spice has gone viral. In August 2022, she was making waves on TikTok with ‘Munch (Feelin’ U)’. Then in January, Ice Spice released her 16-minute-long EP ‘Like..?’ featuring popular songs like "Princess Diana" and "In Ha Mood" - the latter having over 100 million streams on Spotify.
There’s something about her lyrics that’s relatable to the current dating scene. For example in "In Ha Mood" Ice Spice raps, “I tried dippin', he begged me to stay / Bae, I'm not stayin', I just wanna play (just wanna play)” There’s a little feminist sprinkle here of Ice Spice just doing what she wants and being in control of her own narrative. The femininity that Ice Spice emulates perfectly complements the Bronx drill vibe that she brings to every song.
She caught the eye of many rappers from Drake to Nicki Minaj, going as far as having Queen Nicki feature on "Princess Diana". The Bronx and Queens collided on this track as Minaj starts the song with "New Yorkers stand the f* up!" The single earned the No. 4 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released and has remained on the chart since.
On April 14th, Ice Spice posted on Instagram “go stream Princess Diana with @nickiminaj the queen👑💕💕💕 (screaming)”
(Credit: @icespice via Instagram).
In May, things took a shift - a karma-smatic one. Memorial Day weekend was occupied by pop star Taylor Swift for her Eras Tour at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Midnight on May 26th, Swift released Midnights (Til Dawn Edition), a deluxe version of her latest album, with three new tracks including "Hits Different," "Snow On The Beach" featuring Lana del Rey and a remix of "Karma" featuring Ice Spice.
Like some of us, Taylor Swift has become a fan of The Bronx native. “Collaborating with Ice Spice on ‘Karma’ was one of the most natural things,” says the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter in an audio snippet from Spotify's official Twitter account. “I had been listening to her nonstop, like getting ready for my [Eras] tour, I was just listening to Ice Spice constantly.”
Ice Spice’s verse is around 30 seconds long describing karma as something unannounced, “Watch her put ya opps on a throne (Damn) / Got you wavin' pretty white flags, feenin' for that cash” But ultimately, “karma never gets lazy” meaning that no matter what, karma will inevitably catch up with you.
Throughout her verse, Ice Spice personifies karma as feminine whereas Swift finds karma in everything: her boyfriend, a relaxing thought, "breeze in my hair on the weekend." It’s omnipresent. It depicts that they have a different viewpoint on karma and how in Swift’s vision it’s both good and bad.
Taylor Swift sent Twitter into a frenzy on May 24th announcing her latest collaborations. (Credit: @taylorswift13 via Twitter)
With the incorporation of Ice Spice’s signature phrases, "grrah," "like" and the famous, yet random, input of "facts," one cannot help but feel this remix is a bronx-ification of the pop star. Despite it having 32 million streams on Spotify, the remix came with some controversy. The collaboration has many thinking this might be celebrity damage control.
Swift was romantically connected to Matty Healy from The 1975 for a hot minute. Healy was a guest on an episode of comedian Adam Friedland’s podcast where derogatory and offensive comments were made about Ice Spice. It wasn’t until The 1975’s show in Auckland, New Zealand that Healy addressed the now-deleted episode saying, “I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry,” according to Rolling Stone.
It seems karma might be doing her thing here. The ‘Karma’ remix featuring Ice Spice has been on the Billboard Hot 100 since its release. This feature shows how far Ice Spice has come in being able to collaborate with high-profile artists like Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift. Her rapid climb to stardom is ever-present, proclaiming that we are in an ICE era.
Comments