Today (April 12), Paper Magazine released its latest cover featuring rising rapper Ice Spice. The 23-year-old got candid about life before fame and how she’s adjusting to the sudden stardom.
Before reaching the top of the charts and walking red carpets, the young artist revealed she wasn’t always praised for her talents. “Growing up, I remember having a deeper voice than a lot of girls, and boys would try to make fun of me,” Spice, born Isis Naija Gaston, recalled during the interview. “I remember being in school and people imitating me, trying to talk like me, or saying s**t that I would say, and thinking it’s so funny. It was years of just hearing that, and accepting it, and then thinking it’s funny too, and then eventually using it to my advantage. I’m just happy I get to have a career based off how I sound and things I say,” she admitted.
After fine-tuning her flow, Ice blew up almost instantly from her August 2022 hit single “Munch (Feelin’ U).” The track, which asks, “You thought I was feelin’ you?” is a banger about desperate dating hopefuls. It also reached No. 34 on Billboard’s U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The newcomer’s impressive feat quickly launched her into the limelight, where she’s received cosigns from megastars like Nicki Minaj and Drake. “I remember I went to SoHo to shop, and I was just on foot, walking around,” the Bronx, New York native began. Spice added, “I was walking towards the car or some s**t like that, and somebody was trying to take a picture of me! I’m just mad confused [as to] why he’s trying to take a picture of me. Then I had realized, it’s because ‘Munch’ is out.”
Remembering her first brush with fans, she noted, “I remember I was in the mall and this little group of kids swarmed around me like, ‘Are you the ‘Munch’ girl? Oh my God.’ And that was the first week ‘Munch’ had came out. So real shortly after that, that’s when I started to realize my fame was picking up and people was constantly coming up to me. I started to know gradually. It’s not like one day, you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m famous.’ At some point, any time you step out the car, instantly people know you, instantly screaming your name.” Next up for Ice? Today she was also announced as a performer for this year’s Rolling Loud Miami.