What is Ice Spice's real name? Ethnicity explored as rapper's Nigerian and Dominican claim goes viral

Rapper Ice Spice left the internet in a frenzy after sharing details about her ethnicity. The musician went viral after taking part in Erica Banks’ Buss It challenge, and Ice Spice fans are currently in a tizzy following her most recent tweet.

The Munch rapper took to her Twitter account on November 13, 2022, and responded to a tweet, where a netizen wrote that she looks of “Igbo” decent. Ice Spice, whose real name is Isis Gaston, then told her 473.8k followers that she is Nigerian. Ice said:

Ice Spice amassed a massive following after Drake invited her to this year’s OVO fest. The former got the opportunity to meet industry legends including Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne. Ice has since continued to grow in her career and has become a playlist essential.

Ice Spice was born in the Bronx

The 22-year-old Bronx-native has become a prominent rapper from the drill scene in recent years. Ice Spice is half-Dominican and half-Black. It seems like music runs in her family’s genes as her father was an underground rapper as well. Speaking about the advice her father gave her during her career trajectory, Ice revealed in an interview:

The musician has revealed in the past that she spent most of her childhood indoors, due to her neighborhood’s high crime rates. Following middle school, her parents sent her to a Catholic school in Yonkers as they feared that they would be exposing their daughter to bad influences in Bronx schools. Speaking about the same, Ice revealed in a No Jumper interview:

Ice created her stage name in high school. Her family nicknamed her as “Ice” at home, and she decided to add “Spice” to the same as it “just rhymed with it.”

In the spring of 2021, she recorded Bully, which led to her collaborating with Bronx producer Riot. As she garnered more traction, she released more singles including Bikini Bottom, Euphoric, Name of Love and Be a Lady amongst others.

According to Spotify, she has accumulated over 4 million monthly listeners. She also has a massive following of 2.3 million on Instagram.

Netizens go berserk after Ice Spice reveals she is of Nigerian descent

Internet users went bonkers after the rapper revealed details about her ethnicity. Many stated online that her latest tweet would garner her a bigger crowd made up of Nigerian fans. Netizens went on to celebrate her Nigerian roots.

Ice Spice’s industry plant controversy explained

As the singer continued to soar in popularity, many accused her of being an industry plant. The phrase refers to someone who fakes starting off their career without any help from those in the industry.

In Ice’s case, netizens accused her of getting help from her father’s connections who must have connected her with a popular music label.

However, the rapper has endlessly defended her success. She also said in a DJ Booth interview- “they tryna say that I’m a plant, and I’m not.”

About the author

Karishma is a trending writer at SK POP. With a BA in Journalism, Psychology and Literature, Karishma, who has closely followed the latest internet trends from a young age, found her role at SK POP to be the perfect fit for her professional qualifications and personal interests.

She has nearly 3 years of experience in the industry and has interned with The Hindu and Deccan Herald. In her role at Sportskeeda, Karishma covers a range of topics at the pop division, but she believes her skills as a journalist are best reflected while creating impactful and research-intensive stories. For her, no other step in the writing process is as crucial as fact-checking with multiple sources and accurately conveying facts and data.

Karishma holds deep admiration for artists Luke Jerram and Yoshitomo Nara's authenticity and originality, who are her favorite icons. When not ideating her next story, Karishma can be seen deeply engrossed in a book.

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