Munchkins, get excited! The “Princess Diana” of rap is back and better than ever. So, expect to see a signature red afro and acrylic nails dominating TikTok and Instagram once again.
If you’ve logged onto a social media platform in the last five months, chances are you’ve heard of Bronx MC Isis Gaston, better known as Ice Spice. The rapper first took the internet by storm with her August single “Munch (Feelin’ U).” This song established Ice Spice’s knack for writing a catchy hook; the phrase “You thought I was feelin’ you?” went viral. Ice Spice then proved herself to be more than just a one hit wonder, following up “Munch (Feelin’ U)” with her single “Bikini Bottom.” Yet again, she delivered a catchy hook with the line “How can I lose if I’m already chose, like..?” which inspired the title for her debut EP, “Like..?”
Outside of her music, Ice Spice is a budding internet personality, hopping on streams and dancing with popular influencer, Kai Cenat, while growing her own TikTok page. Considering her success in the past few months, anticipation for the release of “Like..?” was at an all-time high. Fortunately, Ice Spice has delivered on expectations.
Following her two previous singles, the EP’s sound falls into the vein of New York drill with added girlboss energy. This is apparent from the first track, “In Ha Mood.” The track, which was released as a single in early January, had already gone viral on TikTok with a snippet of Ice Spice rapping “Like what? Let’s keep it a buck.” While this moment is a highlight, the whole track is an enjoyable listen. Ice Spice’s verses on this single stand out as being much improved from the verses on “Bikini Bottom” and “Munch (Feelin’ U).” On “In Ha Mood,” her flows are sharper, her lyrics are more memorable and the beats are more dynamic. Both of her previous singles were smash hits, but mostly because of the catchy hooks, so seeing this improvement on “In Ha Mood” sets a promising tone for the rest of “Like..?”
Ice Spice follows up the first track with “Princess Diana.” This track’s fast beat, created by the EP’s executive producer RIOTUSA, rides perfectly under the MC’s swagger-filled confidence. Ice Spice flaunts her new celebrity status with the already iconic line “In the hood I’m like Princess Diana.” Though the song goes hard, Ice Spice repeats the chorus a few too many times for the track’s short run time. It would have been nice to see some of the run time go to a longer verse given how fun the existing verses are.
In “Princess Diana,” Ice Spice hints at her relationship with a “gangsta,” and she explores this further on “Gangsta Boo.” The Bronx MC taps into her romantic side with her flow becoming less aggressive than on the previous two tracks, which works really well with the beat. Speaking of working really well, Lil Tjay’s inclusion on this track is a great bonus. The rapper’s verse is short and sweet, but Ice Spice still owns this song with another of her memorable hooks. Lil Tjay and Ice Spice compliment each other well; they both are at their best on bouncy drill beats and their voices are an exciting contrast. Hopefully the two continue their collaboration in the future.
If “Gangsta Boo” is the strongest new song on the EP, “Actin A Smoochie” is the weakest. This is not to say the song is a failure — it’s just not a fully developed idea. The main problem is a small but questionable production choice: the occasional overlap of Ice Spice’s ad-libs and her rapping makes it sound like she is speaking into a cheap gaming headset with the mic turned up too loud. However, this production mishap doesn’t ruin the song; in fact, this track is the most unique on “Like..?” Ice Spice’s rapping doesn’t vary significantly from the rest of the EP; however, the beat is more serene and has a dance feel that sounds like it could’ve been a cut from Drake’s “Honestly, Nevermind.” If the production on “Actin a Smoochie” was cleaned up and the rapping adjusted to fit the mood of the beat, this song would be the best on the EP. Ice Spice should continue to explore this route more in the future.
Courtesy of 10K Projects and Capitol Records.
Ice Spice closes out “Like..?” with her two previously mentioned viral singles from earlier this year. “Bikini Bottom” is fine in the flow of the EP, but “Munch (Feelin’ U)” stands out as rudimentary and almost primitive when held next to her new tracks. Perhaps Ice Spice should’ve just let this one live on as a single.
“Like..?” is a short project lasting only 17 minutes, but in the infancy of her career where there isn’t much variety to her sound yet, Ice Spice’s music is most fun in smaller increments. Still, the EP shows great promise for the MC’s future. With this project, Ice Spice continued to deliver excellent hooks and showed small improvements on her verses with a couple of clever one-liners: sometimes making puns of her own name, “Ice, you’re making me melt.” And, of course, the rapper’s signature lingo showed up more than a couple times. Add “Actin a smoochie” to the Ice Spice dictionary.
More than anything else, Ice Spice’s personality is the star of the show on this EP.
Her confidence and attention-grabbing voice took average songs and made them into bangers.
With this EP, Ice Spice has shown potential, but the project lacks anything novel. Because of this, many may view her as a one-trick pony. Ice Spice can surely become a mainstay in the New York drill scene, but she needs to experiment and add some different sounds to her catalog, try some new beats, vary up her flows and experiment with her voice. Based on reports and footage on the internet, it looks like the Bronx MC is already taking a step in the right direction, potentially collaborating with hyper pop artist PinkPantheress. Allegedly, the two have been filming a music video for a remix of PinkPantheress’s popular song “Boy’s a Liar” that will feature Ice Spice.
As more artists jump forward to collaborate with her, Ice Spice can carve out a place for herself in the music industry by continuing to develop her sound. Expect to hear more from rap’s “Princess Diana” in the near future.
Samuel Bartlett (26C, he/him) is from Durham, North Carolina whose major is undecided. Outside of the Wheel, Bartlett is involved with the Emory Climate Reality Project as an executive, helping plan events to raise awareness about climate change. He loves watching UNC basketball and exploring Atlanta.
