The name Ice Spice is on the minds of everyone, even those who are unfamiliar with her. Drill rapper Ariel, 23, is a native of the Bronx who has engrossed the perpetually online Generation Z demographic with an aura from which not even we Zoomers and offline individuals can evade.
What made a girl from The Bronx, who was relatively unknown to most at the start of the year while attending SUNY Purchase and working as a cashier at Wendy’s and The Gap, win four VMAs, secure a Billboard No. 3 single with another TikTok pop singer PinkPanthress, co-rap with Nicki Minaj on “Barbie World,” appear on “Karma” with Taylor Swift, star in her own Dunkin commercial alongside uber-Dunkin fan Ben Affleck, and secure a “Saturd
Ice Spice was within the line of fire of Healy.
In reality, Ice Spice’s meteoric ascent began in the latter half of 2022, when she went viral. By means of her composition “Munch (Feelingin’ U),” she gained access to the zeitgeist’s radar. She released additional tunes that were inspired by “Spongebob Squarepants,” such as “Bikini Bottom,” and “In Ha Mood,” which encouraged young women. In early 2023, she ultimately released an EP entitled “Like…?” which was a fitting sequel to her catchphrase.
Her iconic verse on PinkPanthress’s “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” ultimately propelled the rapper above the turbulence of underappreciated triumph. The enthralling hyper-pop composition narrates the experience of a girl who is fired up with her romantic interest, who has no regard for the PinkPanthress singer. Upon reaching the verse, Ice Spice weeps uncontrollably over the child.
After the triumph of “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2,” Ice Spice transitioned from being a TikTok mini-viral musician to entering the mainstream. Her breakthrough had finally occurred, and it transpired rapidly. With such rapidity, she became a subject of conversation for virtually everyone, including the lead singer of the British indie-pop band “The 1975,” the edgelord Matty Healy. In online communities, the British performer is notorious for making creepy and offensive incel comments about women. Ice Spice was also in the path of Healy’s attack. Adding the fact that Healy was Taylor Swift’s current romantic interest following her recent separation with long-term six-year boyfriend actor Joe Alwyn appears to add intrigue to the scandal. Swift’s commitment to allyship was called into question and discourse on the internet erupted when she dated a person who ridiculed Ice Spice by addressing her as “Inuit Spice Girl” and “Chubby Chinese Lady” (despite the fact that she is Dominican and Nigerian). Healy offered a non-apologiest apologies by stating, “I apologize if I have offended you.” He stated in a profile for The New Yorker that his offense “is irrelevant.” Instead of publicly addressing the relationship or Healy’s abhorrent remarks regarding Ice Spice, Swift chose to feature the rapper on “Karma,” a track from her album “Midnights.” Numerous individuals deemed the singer’s action damage control, accusing her of capitalizing on her allyship and utilizing the controversy as an opportunity to deflect responsibility for courting an individual who openly admitted to viewing pornographic material that harmed African American women. Swift was criticized for ostensibly endorsing Black women and the feminist movement, but doing so only when it benefited her.