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ice spice

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Hey! I’m on vacation this week but we still have new episodes for you! Today’s podcast is all about the Princess Diana of hip-hop herself, Ice Spice.

Last week I spoke to The Wall Street Journal’s Neil Shah for his latest piece about the Bronx rapper. Ever since then, I’ve been thinking more about what makes her unique. It’s harder than ever for the industry to break new stars, but she’s doing it. How long will it last though?

You can listen to the Ice Spice pod I did with Denisha Kuhlor. Here are a few key points we discussed. Let’s dive in.

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how Ice Spice blew up

Ice Spice currently has 38 million monthly listeners on Spotify. That puts her at #72 on the streaming platform, ahead of Michael Jackson, Jay Z, and Tyler The Creator.

According to Spotify’s Loud and Clear report, there are 130 artists whose catalogs generate $5M+ annually on Spotify alone (which makes up roughly 25% of recorded music revenue). If Ice Spice stays in this area or higher by this time in 2024, we can assume she and her team have done quite well from music alone.

To quote a great tweet, “To have this much success with around 23 minutes of music in her entire catalog is remarkable.” She’s done a bit more than that, but still proves the point!

the unique package

“Munch” is catchy. No doubt about it. But plenty of artists have had catchy hits. She’s a New York rapper doing drill music, but she’s not alone on that front either. Becoming a star is also about the subtle things. The things that purists like to ignore, but realists understand the value.

It’s the smarts to have a name like Ice Spice. It rhymes, easy to say, rolls off the tongue well. We’ve seen other Ice’s in hip-hop before, but they’ve mostly been men, and we haven’t seen it like this. Let’s imagine an alternate world where she went by “Lil’ Isis” instead (since her real name is Isis Gaston). It could be easy for some to dismiss her and believe that they’ve seen this before.

It’s also the look and the vibe. Her orange curls stand out. In an endless scroll of social media timelines, they make you stop and say “wait… who’s this?”

She also comes off relatable. Her raps feel like she’s having a conversation with you. It’s like catching up with an old friend from high school. She’s not trying to rap as fast as possible. Plenty of rappers do that. She’s not trying to hit you with word play that you have to listen to five times. Plenty of rappers do that. Ice Spice’s approach still takes talent, but she’s keeping it real, which attracts people.

Here’s a section from Neil Shah’s Wall Street Journal piece that speaks to this:

You can listen to the podcast here or read below for more highlights.

what to expect in the future

When artists talk about having “the machine” behind them, they’re talking about Ice Spice. Her team at Capitol Records and 10K Records believe that they have the next big superstar on their roster. She has the Taylor Swift co-sign. This is music’s equivalent of every VC competing to get in on the hottest deal.

But how long will this last? She has some good signals. She’s continued to rise. Each project released feels like its own mini-moment. She’s recovered from the mixed reviews from her Rolling Loud performance. As Denisha mentioned on the podcast, Ice Spice started working out consistently to improve her breath control on stage.

If she can continue to get co-signs and perform with big names across genres, like Post Malone did when he was on the rise, it could turn out well.

Unfortunately, it’s tougher for women than it is for Post Malone. We’ve seen a pattern of women in music (especially hip-hop) who gain millions of followers and can easily become trending topics. They have a popular song or two, but then when it’s time to release an album or hit the road, the numbers aren’t as strong. A lot of their followers are less interested in their music, but more interested in their looks or their personalities. It’s a great trait to have when selling brand endorsement deals, but it’s not as correlated with selling albums and selling concert hard tickets.

It’s another reminder of the distinctions between followers and fans. We’ve recently seen Saweetie, Coi Leray, and Chloe Bailey face unfair criticism on that front. I hope the same isn’t true for Ice Spice wen it’s time for her debut album and to go on tour.

These are just a few highlights! Here are a few more topics we discussed:

• what’s the realistic expectation for Ice Spice’s career?
• how to maintain momentum in a saturated music landscape
• building the “Munchkins” fanbase

Listen to the podcast here:

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coming soon from Trapital

Podcast: What’s the role of a music video? We look at the evolution of music videos, the role they’ve served in the industry, how it has changed over time. Excited for this one!

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