Ice Spice’s Debut Album Y2K! Is Both Inessential And Fun
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It finally happened. Ice Spice released an album. Nearly two years after she first blew up with the viral hit “Munch,” Ice Spice has been through wave after wave of internet fame and backlash. She’s made a bunch of hits, nabbed herself a Dunkin Donuts signature drink, and logged a whole lot of Super Bowl camera time. These are career milestones that most artists never reach, and Ice Spice did all that before making an album. Now, the album is here, and it will change absolutely nobody’s mind about her. If you like her, as I do, that’s a good thing.
On the expansive level that we’ve come to expect from pop stars, Y2K! barely even registers as an album. It’s definitely not a new era. The Ice Spice that we hear on Y2K! — the one who raps in laconically darting flows, mostly about having a fat ass and stealing other girls’ boyfriends over hyperactive and rubbery RiotUSA drill-pop beats — is the same one that we saw in the “Munch” video.
Y2K! only has 10 songs, and at least four of the — “Think U The Shit (Fart),” “Gimmie A Light,” “Phat Butt,” the Central Cee collab “Did It First” — already came out as singles. It’s 23 minutes — shorter than the deluxe edition of the Like…? EP. Travis Scott and Gunna make appearances, and guest-verses from those guys are not hard to come by. RiotUSA produced or co-produced every song. If you were looking for Ice Spice to show some different sides of her personality or transition into some different sounds, you will be disappointed.
But Ice Spice has already been through unsustainable levels of hype, and now she’s made a fun, charismatic, propulsive rap record that seems designed not to cross over. She stays in her lane, and she makes sure that it’s over before anyone gets a chance to get sick of her. The changes are slight, but the club accents and flow-switches all show subtle confidence boosts. As famous as she is, Ice Spice has an extremely specific style, and she’s very good at that style. Y2K! proves it. Stream it below.
Y2K! is out now on 10K Projects/Capitol.