Ice Spice Bio
Isis Naija Gaston (born January 1, 2000), known professionally as Ice Spice, is an American rapper and songwriter from the Bronx, New York City. She began her music career in 2020 after meeting producer RiotUSA and rose to prominence with the viral 2022 single “Munch (Feelin’ U)”. After signing with 10K Projects and Capitol Records, she released the EP Like..? (2023), which included the top-ten hit “Princess Diana” with Nicki Minaj, and followed with her debut studio album Y2K! (2024). Associated with Bronx drill, Ice Spice has collaborated with major artists and received several awards and nominations, including four Grammy nominations, marking her as a breakout artist.
Working within the hip-hop and Bronx drill genres, Ice Spice has built a reputation for writing her own lyrics and delivering accessible, pop-leaning drill records. Her career has been defined by a string of high-charting collaborations, a swift rise through social media, and one of the most discussed breakthrough runs of the early 2020s. Outside of music, she has expanded into acting with appearances in projects scheduled for 2025.
Early Life and Background
Isis Naija Gaston was born on January 1, 2000, in the Bronx, New York City. She is of mixed ethnicity; her father, Joseph Gaston, is African American, while her mother, Charina Almanzar, is Dominican. The two met at a McDonald’s in New York, with Joseph working as an underground rapper and Charina employed at a car dealership. Charina was seventeen when she gave birth to Isis, and the couple divorced when Isis was two years old. Gaston has five younger half-siblings: three sisters from her mother’s side, and another sister and only brother from her father’s side.
Gaston spent much of her childhood with her grandparents and cousins, eventually moving within the Bronx and later to the University area. She attended school in the Bronx through the fifth grade before transferring to Sacred Heart High School in Yonkers, from which she graduated in 2018. At age seven, she took a liking to hip-hop after listening to rappers like Lil’ Kim and Nicki Minaj, and French Montana used to visit her elementary school when she was in the fourth grade. She wrote poetry and freestyle raps through high school, and adopted the stage name Ice Spice during her freshman year. She chose the moniker from a fake Instagram account she had created at age fourteen.
Gaston went on to attend the State University of New York at Purchase, where she studied communications and played as a defensive specialist on the school’s volleyball team. Around her sophomore year, she dropped out of SUNY Purchase, later explaining that she did not believe the school was the right fit and citing a strenuous commute. After leaving college, she worked as a cashier at Wendy’s and The Gap, and briefly attempted to work at a local street market in the Bronx area.
Path to Music
Ice Spice started rapping in 2020 after meeting record producer RiotUSA. He produced her debut song, “Bully Freestyle”, which was released in March 2021 after a video of her performing the “Buss It” challenge went viral on Twitter. Her song “Name of Love” gained traction on SoundCloud, which helped her build a following on Instagram. Her early influences included Sheff G and Pop Smoke, the artists who first inspired her to start rapping, alongside a wider list of New York-rooted figures such as Lil’ Kim, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Foxy Brown, and Remy Ma.
On August 10, 2022, Ice Spice released “Munch (Feelin’ U)” with a video distributed by WorldStarHipHop, positioned as the lead single from her then-untitled debut EP. The song gained momentum after Drake played it on his Sirius XM radio station, Sound 42, and subsequently went viral on Twitter and TikTok, charting on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Bubbling Under Hot 100 charts. In September 2022, she appeared as a featured artist on B-Lovee’s “One Time”, and later that month she signed a record deal with 10K Projects and Capitol Records. On October 28, 2022, she released the single “Bikini Bottom”.
Ice Spice Career
Early Career (2020-2022)
Ice Spice’s earliest musical output was shaped by her meeting with RiotUSA in 2020 and the independent release of “Bully Freestyle” in 2021, which introduced her tight, conversational style to a small but growing online audience. Her SoundCloud traction with “Name of Love” and her viral “Buss It” challenge video helped convert online attention into a recognizable brand before any major label involvement.
The turning point of her early run came with “Munch (Feelin’ U)” in August 2022, which became a viral hit after gaining support from Drake. The track’s performance on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop and Bubbling Under Hot 100 charts confirmed her commercial potential and led directly to her signing with 10K Projects in a joint venture with Capitol Records later that year.
Breakthrough (2023-Present)
Ice Spice’s debut EP, Like..?, was released on January 20, 2023, and included the singles “Munch (Feelin’ U)”, “Bikini Bottom”, and “In Ha Mood”. In February 2023, she collaborated with Lil Tjay on the tribute single “Gangsta Boo” honoring the late rapper, which became her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 82. On February 3, 2023, the remix of PinkPantheress’s “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” featuring Ice Spice was released alongside its music video, peaking at number three on the Hot 100, the highest-charting position for either artist at the time.
In April 2023, she released the remix of “Princess Diana” with Nicki Minaj, which peaked at number four on the Hot 100, earning Ice Spice her second top-ten hit and Nicki Minaj’s twenty-second top-ten hit. On May 24, 2023, a remix of Taylor Swift’s “Karma” featuring Ice Spice was announced for release on May 26, 2023, as a bonus track on the special editions of Swift’s tenth studio album, Midnights (2022), with a music video for the remix featuring both artists released on May 27. “Karma” peaked at number two on the Hot 100, making Ice Spice the artist with the most Hot 100 top-five singles in 2023. On June 26, she released “Barbie World” with Nicki Minaj, debuting at number seven on the Hot 100. The deluxe edition of Like..?, featuring five new tracks, was released on July 21, 2023. Pitchfork described 2023 as the breakout year of Ice Spice.
On November 14, 2023, she teased an upcoming project titled Y2K! slated for 2024, releasing “Think U the Shit (Fart)” as its lead single in January 2024. Y2K! was released on July 26, 2024, and sold 28,000 copies in its first week. On August 1, 2024, Ice Spice added a bonus track to the album titled “Gyat”, and on December 25, 2024, a deluxe version of Y2K! was released, featuring contributions from BB Trickz, DaBaby, NLE Choppa, and Anuel AA.
Notable Works and Milestones
Ice Spice is the only rapper to release four songs that reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in 2023, a run that includes “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” with PinkPantheress, “Princess Diana” with Nicki Minaj, “Karma” with Taylor Swift, and “Barbie World” with Nicki Minaj and Aqua. Her signature work, the EP Like..?, peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200 and helped establish her as a leading voice in contemporary Bronx drill. She is a recipient of the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, the People’s Choice Award for New Artist of the Year, and the BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards Impact Award, alongside four Grammy Award nominations including Best New Artist.
Ice Spice Award Nominations
Ice Spice has received four Grammy Award nominations across her career, including a nod for Best New Artist, underscoring her swift recognition by the Recording Academy. These nominations reflect her breakthrough run in 2023, when she placed four songs in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and was widely covered as one of the year’s most discussed new artists. Further nominations from additional ceremonies are referenced in her broader list of accolades, contributing to a nomination profile that complements her award wins.
Ice Spice Awards Won
Ice Spice has earned several prominent awards since her breakthrough, including 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. These wins have tracked the trajectory of her rapid rise, from viral single to multi-platinum-tier collaborations, and have positioned her as one of the most awarded breakout artists of her era. Her award wins have been concentrated in the new artist categories, reflecting the freshness of her career at the time of recognition.
Ice Spice Family
Ice Spice was born to Joseph Gaston, an African American underground rapper, and Charina Almanzar, a Dominican woman who worked at a car dealership and was seventeen when she gave birth to Isis. Her parents met at a McDonald’s in New York and divorced when Isis was two years old. She has five younger half-siblings: three sisters from her mother’s side, and a sister and her only brother from her father’s side. She spent much of her childhood with her grandparents and cousins, an upbringing she has often referenced in interviews about her Bronx roots.
Personal Life
Ice Spice is bisexual and relocated to New Jersey following her career breakthrough. In 2025, she confirmed via her personal Instagram account that she previously dated professional cornerback Sauce Gardner. Outside of music, she has taken on acting roles in the films Highest 2 Lowest and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, both scheduled for 2025, signaling her expansion beyond recording artist work into film.