Bronx rapper Ice Spice’s vertiginous rise has already produced viral hits, several A-list collaborations and four Grammy nominations to date – not to mention gossip fodder, most recently on the back of Did It First, her tendentious two-hander about cheating with UK rapper Central Cee. The release of her debut studio album (Like..?, in 2023, was an EP) feels like a done deal.
These are 10 tracks of unabashed party trap by the current master of the genre. Everything is a flex, no tune outstays its welcome, and few thoughts uttered are more than an inch deep, but all are delivered with brio. One of the tracklist’s standouts, Think U the Shit (Fart) – only one of many poo-related rhymes here – makes the braggadocious point that all the pretenders to Ice Spice’s crown are just hot air. Somehow, though, Ice’s relentless, did-she-just-say-that couplets, and producer RiotUSA’s never-not-nagging beats, elevate everything to banger status.
She could be accused of making the same song on repeat, but to her credit, Ice is never boring. A switch-up in speed – on the Sean Paul-sampling Gimmie a Light – and some breathily exasperated cadences (on Popa and Bitch I’m Packin’) provide a glimpse of range. The title, meanwhile, notes this disruptor’s birthday: 1 January 2000.
