Isis Naija Gaston (born January 1, 2000), better known as Ice Spice, is a rapper from the Bronx, New York City.
In an interview with SiriusXM, Ice Spice explained how she got her stage name, stating:
My name is Isis, but I came up with the “Spice” part when I was like 14. I was just trying to come up with a finsta name, and I was like, “What rhymes with ice?” It was spice.
Ice Spice began rapping in 2021, inspired by artists such as Saweetie, Cardi B, Doja Cat, and Pop Smoke. Her confident lyrics are accompanied by the production that defines her drill and hip-hop-influenced sound, courtesy of her in-house producer, Riot.
Her August 2022 single, the upbeat drill song “Munch (Feelin' U),” brought her internet virality. The track hit 2.2 million views on YouTube in two weeks and was co-signed by Drake.
Keeping up with her newfound success, Ice Spice would release yet another major single, “In Ha Mood.” which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 charts at #85 on Feb 14, 2023. Her successful single run would end up getting a $2 million deal with 10K Projects. Ice Spice would end up releasing her debut EP Like…?, on January 20, 2023.
Shortly after, Ice Spice was featured on “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2,” the remix of PinkPantheress‘ hit song, with the song peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. 2023 would also see a “dream collab” for Ice Spice, a remix of her track “Princess Diana” with the proclaimed “queen of rap,” Nicki Minaj. May of 2023 would see Ice take part in yet another collab, “Karma (Remix)” with pop sensation Taylor Swift after she reached out to Taylor through her team saying how much of a “big fan” of Taylor’s work she was.
Then on June 23, 2023, Ice Spice would go on to collaborate with Nicki once more with “Barbie World,” a prime single for the Barbie The Album movie soundtrack. Almost a month later, on July 21, she released a deluxe version of her debut EP, including four new tracks and the “Princess Diana” remix with Nicki Minaj.
Entering into 2024, Ice Spice would go on to release her next big single, “Think U The Shit (Fart)” on January 26. Nearly three weeks before it’s release, the song’s snippet went viral on social media platforms, due to the odd phasing of the chorus and the origin of the lyric. The song would go on to debut at #37 on the Billboard 200. She released her debut studio album Y2K! on July 26, 2024, along with a deluxe version on Christmas Day of 2024.
Although 2025 would mostly be a quiet year for Ice Spice, with some collaborations from Latto and KATSEYE, a few singles released, and landing a role on the film Highest 2 Lowest by Spike Lee, on November 14, she would release the single “Big Guy” from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants movie, to which it went viral through social media thanks to its unique chorus. She would also voice in the movie as a small cameo.
