I’ve never been a major fan of Ice Spice to begin with. I won’t pretend that her songs aren’t catchy and fun, but frankly, I don’t see the hype. I don’t pride myself in disliking a celebrity, so I really did try to like her as much as other people did. It still never clicked. Even then, I wanted her to succeed. I really did. That aside, this article is not from the point of view of a fan, but rather of a person who had a feeling that it was going to end up like this. 

Ice Spice’s fame came from TikTok. While TikTok is a great way for budding artists to reach new audiences, the fame that comes from it is oftentimes unstable. When someone blows up so quickly, there’s a lot of difficulty that comes with navigating it. There are some that are able to transcend their TikTok fame, and there are some that aren’t, with their relevance snuffed out as quickly as it started. Ice Spice falls into a middle ground. She was able to capitalize off of her growing popularity and make good connections, but at the end of the day, not enough work was put into actually cultivating a career that was built to last. 

I think the most obvious thing to analyze is her music. Her songs are perfect for TikTok trends and edits. Don’t get me wrong, I liked seeing what people did with her music, but when her songs stood alone, they didn’t hold up all that well. She doesn’t need to have deep or meaningful lyrics to be good. There’s a handful of rap songs that I really enjoy that are just party anthems and nothing more, and a good chunk of them come from female rappers. Ice Spice’s problem is that her wordplay is mediocre (how many times can you mention excrement in your songs?) and most of her songs blend together. It’s good to have a niche, but I shouldn’t struggle to figure out which song I’m listening to.

I listened to her newest album, “Y2K,” in order to better prepare for this article. If I’m being honest, I felt absolutely nothing while listening to it. It just felt like a rehashed version of her previous songs. There was nothing new that made me feel like Ice Spice has more going for her than the memes she got popular from. There wasn’t an attempt to give the fans something a little different to break up the monotony. A missed opportunity. Ice Spice didn’t have to suddenly switch genres, but man, “Y2K” could have been so much more. The only thing I truly enjoyed were the beats. 

Her stage presence is also bland, so concert-goers aren’t really in for much when she’s on the stage. I’ll give her credit and say that she does make an effort to actually rap her lyrics instead of lip syncing, but I don’t see her as a great entertainer. I also don’t think Ice Spice and her management are focusing on developing her as an artist, which is incredibly concerning for her future career. Also, please tell me I’m not the only one who remembers when Ice Spice went after the appearance of a woman who criticized her stage presence on X (formerly Twitter). The criticism was mildly sassy at worst, but mostly constructive. She made a good point by saying that Ice Spice should work with someone that could help her improve. It’s never fun to get criticized, but the way Ice Spice handled that interaction made me question how much she actually wants to improve her craft. 

I feel that Ice Spice should have taken more time to find her identity as an artist. I’m not an expert in pop culture, but I know that rap and hip-hop can be diverse genres, and there’s so much one can do with it, even when you focus on specific subgenres like drill music. Ice Spice isn’t using the genre to its full potential. Rather, it felt like she was trying to chase a viral hit. I mean, I didn’t even buy into her Y2K aesthetic. In my opinion, it felt like less of a genuine expression of her interests and more of an attempt to capitalize off the growing popularity of Y2K fashion. This is not supposed to act as a personal attack against Ice Spice’s character. I don’t view her as someone who is maliciously lying to her audience. I just think it’s the product of a lack of effort to discover herself and what she can bring to the table. 

I wish Ice Spice the best, and I would love to see genuine improvement from her in the future. However, unless she changes things up, I don’t imagine that the self-proclaimed Princess of Rap will retain her royal title for much longer.