Ice Spice isn’t letting critics write her off.
In a new interview with Nylon, the Bronx-bred rapper addressed the ongoing chatter surrounding her lyricism, making it clear that she knows her worth as an emcee, despite the noise.
“I think my mistake was basically… What’s the word? Letting people feel like they were right a little bit,” Ice said of previously leaning into detractors downplaying her prowess as a wordsmith.
“Like people were trying to say that I’m not a lyricist, and I just kind of went in with the attitude of ‘Yeah, they’re right. I’m not.’ But it’s just not true.”
She admitted that, at first, she chose not to push back against the narrative, but ultimately had to draw a line. “I didn’t really feel like having to prove that. But I figured I’d let you know that I definitely knew I was [a lyricist]. The whole time. I just let them say what they want and be happy with that.”
Beyond shutting down the criticism, Ice spoke about her constant drive to improve, and the ways friendly rivalries with her peers fuel her. “‘Oh my God, I need to be better than my last time,’ you know? I think the girls [in rap] also enjoy the friendly competition amongst each other. I feel like that’s what keeps the spark.”
That hunger has also reshaped her creative process. Once heavily reliant on freestyling and “punching in,” Ice and longtime producer RIOTUSA are now refining their songwriting methods.
“Instead of constantly freestyling and punching in only,” she explained, “I started writing on the writer’s pads that they have at the studio. I’ll just write and then record it. Or play the beat, write, then record. Or sometimes I’ll even stop the beat, which is new for me.”
Ice is ending the year on a high note. Along with a cameo in Spike Lee’s upcoming film Highest 2 Lowest, she recently dropped her latest single, “Baddie Baddie,” built around a reimagining of M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls.” For Ice, it’s not just about silencing doubters—it’s about continuing to level up, one bar at a time.
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