Why Ice Spice is losing respect and relevancy in hip-hop
This time last year, Ice Spice seemed primed to take over the rap game and become one of the legends of female rap. After initially being written off as a novelty, she suddenly got support from Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, and others such as Central Cee and even Drake.
Within only a matter of months after she arrived on the scene Ice SPice looked like she had overcome the odds to become a superstar. However, nowadays, things aren’t looking so great for the Bronx native.
Many have noticed that since her peak last year, she has been losing monthly listeners on Spotify faster than any other artist has before. It was announced earlier this year that the number of people streaming her music had dropped by over 25 million within the span of a single year.
Nobody knows the definitive reason why Ice Spice seems to be being rejected by the culture, but it is happening nonetheless. Not only does it appear the public is growing tired of her repetitive musical formula, but also of her childlike behaviour.
Compared to other female MCs who can easily enter the charts with their music, Ice Spice may be struggling to keep up the momentum needed to sustain a fan base. It is uncomfortable to accept, but since the release of her viral hit ‘Munch’, the musician has gone from having the hip-hop audience in the palm of her hand to the industry wanting nothing to do with her.
Until this year, Ice Spice was seen as the artist to watch out for as she prepared to drop her debut project, Y2K! Although some in the culture had already scolded her, most were still optimistic about the album’s July release.
Still, when the body of work hit streaming platforms this summer, fans and critics alike were shocked at how underwhelming and poorly curated the album was, considering it was meant to showcase the full extent of what she had to offer.
Debuting at number 18 on the Billboard 200, Y2K! only sold 28,000 copies in its first week. Compared to Cardi B’s Invasion Of Privacy, which debuted at number one, selling 255,000 or, even worse, Pink Friday, which reached a staggering 375k, it’s impossible not to notice a huge disparity.
The body of work had prestigious features from Travis Scott, Gunna and Central Cee, bolstering many tracks. However, it wasn’t only haters of Ice Spice who noticed the album’s lack of quality; her die-hard fans weren’t happy with what they heard either.
Initially, when songs such as ‘Think U The Shit (Fart)’ and ‘In Ha Mood’ were released, most people defended the emcee as they didn’t categorise her as a rapper to begin with. Instead, she was considered more of an entertainer. Her image-focused approach thus far has led to many overlooking and dismissing her music, and since her arrival, whether on social media or in her visuals, her body has become more important than any track she is releasing.
As such, with her album, when the culture had to listen to the music on its own, without distractions, it became clear that she hadn’t been a good rapper for a long time, but many hadn’t noticed it.
While all of these negative musical forces were at play, Ice Spice took it upon herself to send shots at Cardi B, who was and is still a much bigger force in hip-hop. An additional part of the Bronx emcee’s rapid decline has been the glimpses of her personality behind the scenes. From dissing and exploiting her former best friend to dissing Nicki Minaj, whom she had previously worked with, the list of reasons to hate Ice Spice kept growing.
As such, it appears that she is slowly but surely losing her place in hip-hop and the respect she had when many were under the illusion she was capable of recording an album and maintaining fame like other new females GloRilla, and Megan Thee Stallion.