Ice Spice is the picture of indifference to “Y2K!”
Ice Spice released her debut album. released her debut album, a couple of years after the singer came out with her bracingly unassuming “Munch (Feelin U).’
By Mikael Wood
Jul 26, 2024 07:38 PM
Two years after crashing into pop stardom with an all-timer of a kiss-off in “Munch (Feelin’ U),” Ice Spice has finally delivered her debut album: the young Bronx rapper’s long-awaited opportunity, we’re meant to understand, to prove she’s more than just a viral hitmaker.
Why even bother?
It’s the casual vibeand the unquestionably appealing appeal “Y2K!,” on which Ice Spice spends 23 minutes in a trance, sifting through 10 songs that talk about sexuality, competition and the cold logic that is infidelity “If he’s cheating I’m doing him worse,” she argues. “I don’t care ’cause he did it first.”
The newest addition to the long list of outstanding New York City voices, Ice Spice arrived in 2022 with a laid-back attitude that was that was perfectly suited for TikTok’s compact presentation. Since then, she’s made it to the top 5 on PinkPantheress and has been to “Barbie World” with Nicki Minaj, racked up four Grammy nods and her a bestie out of none more then Taylor Swift. (She even filmed an Dunkin’ Donuts commercial with Ben Affleck.) But she’s indifferent about “Y2K!,” as it turns into sigh yet another source of frustration.
“Everybody be knowing my name,” she says in “BB Belt.” “Just want the money, I don’t want the fame.”
What makes this strategy work is how she puts her low, talky style against RiotUSA’s beats which can be cold and intimidating (as in “Oh Shhh” …” as well as “BB Belt”) or slick and lively (as the case in “Think U the S-” (Fart)” or “Did it first”). The evocative production of Ice Spice has its roots in drill, but it also incorporates hints from trap music and Jersey club. Together, he as well as Ice Spice know how to transform a slangy phrase”Fat Butt, Pull My Pants Up” is one of them “Fat butt, pull my pants up” is just one of them to create a cleverly appealing hook, and then to transform it into a sort of low-boil chant.
Alongside Central Cee, Travis Scott and Gunna made guest appearances as guests on “Y2K!,” whose title is a reference to Ice Spice’s birth date of January. 1st January 1, 2000. They’re both great, although each rapper’s monotonous mumbling fades into the background of Ice Spice’s blazing anger.
Does “Y2K!” ultimately feel to be a little tinny considering the length of time it took to manifest? Sure. But the album’s throwaway nature is refreshingly fresh in the midst of a long year of extravagantly-conceived pop events like Beyonce’s ” Cowboy Carter” and Swift’s ” The Tortured Poets Department.” In contrast to her friend with the long line of unhappy ex-lovers, Ice Spice bears no any semblance of guilt in these tiny ditty. She’s floating in an air of indifference.