Ice Spice Is Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Year

On May 1, Ice Spice attended her first-ever Met Gala. By the end of that month, she had appeared on an even bigger public stage: as the featured artist on the remix of Taylor Swift’s “Karma,” which she live-debuted with Swift in a surprise appearance at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the same day the track dropped. A week later, “Karma” vaulted to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning Ice her third top 10 on the chart and her highest-reaching hit to date.

Then, in June, Ice reconnected with her idol Nicki Minaj (they had already released the Hot 100 No. 4 hit “Princess Diana” in January) for the Aqua-sampling “Barbie World” from the Barbie movie soundtrack; the song debuted at No. 7 on the Hot 100, notching Ice her fourth top 10. Two days later, Ice honored the Bronx — the New York borough that both raised her and birthed hip-hop itself 50 years ago — at the BET Awards during her first-ever awards show performance. And in July, she played four international music festivals — Dublin’s Longitude Festival; Norway’s Stavern Festival; Les Ardentes in Liège, France; and London’s Wireless Festival, where she performed her No. 3 collaboration “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” with PinkPantheress for the first time — in a single week.

“The People’s Princess,” as her legion of fans has dubbed her, is on fire. And this month, she’ll add another accolade to her fast-growing résumé, when, on Aug. 8, Billboard honors the artist born Isis Gaston as its 2023 R&B/hip-hop Rookie of the Year. “I have put in so much hard work, and it means a lot to be recognized for it and have more than just plaques to show for it,” she says.

Her litany of accomplishments may resemble the trajectory of an established superstar, but in fact Ice will receive her award just two days before the one-year anniversary of “Munch (Feelin’ U),” the breakout single that catapulted the up-and-coming MC to the upper echelons of hip-hop — and pop — royalty.

“I would always be on Google as a kid, looking up ‘how to be rich’ and ‘careers that pay the most.’ I was like, ‘OK, should I be a doctor? Or should I be a lawyer?’ I just wanted to make all the money,” she said in April, when she sat down with Billboard for a cover story. “But I did always love music. I guess it just fell into place.”

The seeds for Ice’s career were first planted when her father, an underground rapper, schooled her on hip-hop heavyweights like Jay-Z and Wu-Tang Clan. Then, in her teens, she witnessed the late Pop Smoke shed new light on New York’s drill scene. “I guess I always knew I’d be a rapper because I was looking to be friends with producers,” Ice says of meeting RIOTUSA, who would become her go-to producer, while attending State University of New York at Purchase. In less than two years, the two developed a winning formula — Ice’s low-pitched, sharp-tongued bars brimming with idiosyncratic-yet-catchy slang paired with RIOT’s menacing drill beats softened by bubblegum-pop melodies from EDM samples — and struck gold with “Munch.”

Since then, Ice has conquered hip-hop, EDM and pop stages alike — and proved she’s no one-hit wonder. “I believe she’s able to attract different genres and crowds because of her willingness to experiment with crossover sounds and not box herself in,” says her manager, James Rosemond Jr. “Ice will always be a rapper first — however, we do want to take what she represents and what she is doing on a global level.”

Before that happens, she has a few more goals for the year — like releasing the deluxe edition of her debut EP, Like..?, which dropped July 21 — before she gets to work on her first album. “We want to build a strong foundation for her and not fly over any necessary steps that a new artist should take, nor have her quickly change her music to sound a certain way due to the big crossover success,” Rosemond says.

Come November, Ice will open Doja Cat’s North American arena tour alongside Doechii, a support opportunity Rosemond says was “a personal request from Doja” after Ice met her earlier this year and helped by his relationship with Doja’s manager, Gordan Dillard. “Every strategic festival moment you’ve been seeing Ice billed for and doing is her getting her live-show chops up for this upcoming tour moment,” he says, also citing her “Karma” stadium performance with Swift. “Ice’s confidence has shot up even more to take on an arena tour as a supporting act.”

And as she continues strategically plotting new career milestones, Ice knows her path aligns with the trajectory of hip-hop itself. “Fifty years of hip-hop is monumental,” Ice says. “I hope to push the genre forward in whatever ways I can, but I know I’ll have a huge impact on the youngins coming up now.”

This story will appear in the Aug. 5, 2023, issue of Billboard.