Ice Spice

Isis Naija Gaston, known professionally as Ice Spice, is an American rapper and songwriter born on January 1, 2000, in the Bronx, New York City. She is primarily known for her contributions to the Bronx drill music subgenre and gained widespread recognition as a breakout musical artist. Outside of her record releases, her career includes film roles in the 2025 releases Highest 2 Lowest and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.

Gaston was raised in New York City by her parents, Joseph Gaston, an African-American underground rapper, and Charina Almanzar, a Dominican car dealership worker. After her parents divorced when she was two, she spent much of her childhood with her grandparents and cousins. She attended local schools in the Bronx and graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Yonkers in 2018. Inspired by her father's musical background and artists like Lil' Kim and Nicki Minaj, she wrote poetry and freestyle raps throughout her youth, adopting the name Ice Spice during her freshman year of high school. She later attended the State University of New York at Purchase to study communications and play volleyball before dropping out in her sophomore year.

Ice Spice launched her rapping career in 2020 after connecting with producer RiotUSA, who produced her debut song, "Bully Freestyle," released in March 2021. After her track "Name of Love" gained traction on SoundCloud, she released the single "Munch (Feelin' U)" in August 2022. The song went viral on Twitter and TikTok after receiving radio airplay from Drake. Following this breakthrough, she signed a joint venture deal with 10K Projects and Capitol Records in September 2022 and released the single "Bikini Bottom" shortly thereafter.

In January 2023, Ice Spice released her debut extended play, Like..?, which peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200 chart. The project was supported by singles including "In Ha Mood" and a remix of "Princess Diana" featuring Nicki Minaj. That same year, she attained additional top-ten entries on the Billboard Hot 100 through collaborative singles such as PinkPantheress's "Boy's a Liar Pt. 2," Taylor Swift's "Karma," and "Barbie World" with Nicki Minaj and Aqua. These achievements made her the only rapper to achieve four Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 2023. A deluxe version of her debut EP was released in July 2023.

Ice Spice released her debut studio album, Y2K!, in July 2024, supported by the lead single "Think U the Shit (Fart)." The album sold 28,000 copies in its first week, and a deluxe version featuring guest appearances was released in December 2024. In November 2024, she performed in Times Square alongside Snoop Dogg to promote a Fortnite gaming event. Her industry recognition includes the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, the People's Choice Award for New Artist of the Year, and the Impact Award from the BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards.