How did Ice Spice get famous? Rapper’s career explained

Ice Spice rose to prominence on TikTok before transitioning her platform into a full-fledged musical endeavor. Here is her career explained.

Ice Spice became an overnight sensation in 2021. In the coming years, she notched hit after hit, including ‘Princess Diana’ and ‘Barbie World,’ featuring Nicki Minaj.

From humble beginnings in the Bronx, New York, the rapper managed to leverage a strong online presence and forge a pretty impressive career so far.

While her career remains in its relative infancy, she has already demonstrated a knack for fiery bars and identifiable beats. But how did she take off? Here is her career explained.

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Ice Spice goes viral on TikTok

While Ice Spice had been working on her first song, ‘Bully Freestyle,’ she found herself going viral on TikTok. It was only after doing Erica Banks’ ‘Buss It’ challenge that she struck it big. Her version of the challenge, which requires users to begin in their normal clothes before a glow-up and dance routine, hit one million views.

It was then that the rapper realized she needed to capitalize on her momentum. “After that, I was like, ‘Nah, I gotta hurry up and put this song out,'” she said in an interview with Audiomack. “So we recorded and finished the song the same week that it went viral, then we released it a bit later in the month.”

Ice Spice releases ‘Munch (Feelin’ U)’

Ice Spice’s ‘Munch (Feelin’ U)’ currently stands with 126 million streams on Spotify. Upon its release, fans quickly propelled the song into a viral success with its hashtag now with more than two billion views on TikTok.

Even more, Drake reached out to Ice Spice via Instagram DM to compliment the song and show his support. “I had just landed in L.A. for my Genius Open Mic for ‘Munch,’” she said. “And he was actually like, ‘Yo, ‘Munch’ is hard and your On the Radar freestyle is hard.’ And I was like, ‘Damn, that’s crazy.'”

She later met him in person and attended OVO Fest. “He’s mad nice and respectful. It was exciting because it was like his first time performing in Toronto, I think in like a couple of years,” she added.

Ice Spice readies debut album

Off her viral success, Ice Spice transitioned over to a full-time artist. She dropped her debut song ‘Bully Freestyle,’ which was produced by RiotUSA. Then, her song ‘Name of Love’ took off on SoundCloud, leading to exponential popularity on Instagram.

As her career exploded, she signed with 10K Projects and then Capitol Records. She continued releasing chart-making tunes, from ‘In Ha Mood’ and ‘Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2’ to ‘Deli.’ She later dropped her debut EP Like…? in early 2023.

But things were just getting started. She also hopped on a remixed version of Taylor Swift’s ‘Karma’ and appeared on a Kai Cenat livestream. She also was selected to appear in Beyoncé’s Ivy Park x Adidas collection. Several brand collaborations, including with Vogue and Marc Jacobs, followed. She’s been unstoppable ever since.

Armed with several singles, including ‘Think U the Sh*t (Fart),’ Ice Spice geared up for her debut album, Y2K, released in 2024.