walking upstream…
Ice Spice
photo: ben · cc by-sa 2.0 ↗Ice Spice
sourcesWikipedia
Isis Gaston grew up in the Bronx — a Dominican mother, a father who'd rapped underground before her — and enrolled at SUNY Purchase to study communications and play volleyball before a rough commute and a pull toward music won out. On campus she met producer RiotUSA, who kept sending her beats until one, in 2021, clicked into 'Bully Freestyle': a light, deadpan flow riding drill's clipped, sliding low end, delivered with the flat confidence of a viral caption rather than a battle bar. 'Munch (Feelin' U)' turned that formula into a 2022 phenomenon; by the 'Like..?' EP and her Nicki Minaj duet 'Princess Diana,' she was Bronx drill's biggest pop crossover, a run her 2024 debut album 'Y2K!' extended into hooks-over-bars stardom.
the sound in question
2022
Munch (Feelin' U)Ice Spice
walk the tributaries ↓
Nicki Minaj2010s · Hip hop / Pop rap / R&B
Ice Spice has said seeing Nicki Minaj was a turning point: 'When I saw Nicki, I was so mesmerized. She's the first female rapper that I seen,' naming her (alongside Lil' Kim) as the artist who made a career in rap feel possible. That shows up less as a shared subject matter than a shared instinct for the pop-facing hook-rap hybrid — a bouncy, quotable, slightly cartoonish charisma sitting on top of a rap verse rather than a straight bar-for-bar flex.
listen: upstream & heresource: HotNewHipHop ↗
2011
Super BassNicki Minaj
2022
Munch (Feelin' U)Ice Spice
listen forSet 'Super Bass' beside 'Munch (Feelin' U)' — both ride a light, sing-songy cadence built for a hook everyone can shout back, more playful chant than dense wordplay.
Pop Smoke2010s · Brooklyn drill / Hip hop
Ice Spice has called Pop Smoke's music foundational to how she started rapping at all, saying 'I love Pop Smoke. He's goated' and that she 'was definitely bumping him every day' even before she began recording seriously — she's described her earliest writing as flipping New York drill artists like Pop Smoke and Sheff G into her own captions. The influence lands as sound rather than subject: the deep, sliding 808 glides and clipped hi-hats of New York drill sit under her tracks even when her own delivery stays light and singsong on top.
listen: upstream & heresource: Vibe ↗
2019
Welcome to the PartyPop Smoke
2022
Bikini BottomIce Spice
listen forPlay 'Welcome to the Party' against 'Bikini Bottom' — both sit a vocal over the same sliding-808, drill-derived low end, one delivered as a menacing chant, the other as a bratty hook, over structurally similar bones.
Cardi B2010s–20s · Hip hop / Trap / Pop rap
Discussing her hometown scene, Ice Spice credited a fellow Bronx rapper directly: 'Cardi B put the Bronx on the map AGAIN, especially for females. But also because it's the last authentic borough. I think people are interested in how it truly is.' The line traces a direct model for a Bronx woman rapper breaking out nationally on brash, quotable, unapologetically local bars rather than smoothing her accent or persona for a wider audience.
listen: upstream & heresource: DJBooth/Audiomack ↗
2017
Bodak YellowCardi B
2023
in ha moodIce Spice
listen forCompare 'Bodak Yellow' with 'In Ha Mood' — both are blunt, confident breakout singles that lean on a thick New York accent and punchline-driven bragging as the whole hook, no chorus-singer softening the delivery.