“Hot Ones”: Ice Spice says it took her three years to hone her voice and identity as a rapper

Ice Spice, the Grammy-nominated artist best known for her Billboard hits “Princess Diana” and “Munch,” discussed the upcoming release of her debut album “Y2K” while taking on the wings of death during this week's episode of “Hot Ones.”

The 24-year-old rapper, dubbed “rap's new princess,” made an appearance on the popular YouTube talk show to answer host Sean Evans’ most burning questions. The pair chit-chatted over a platter of ten increasingly spicy chicken wings, first starting with the Hot Ones – Buffalo Hot Sauce which measures about 1,800 Scoville units.

This season’s complete hot sauce lineup is as follows: Sam Sa'House – Smokey's Jalapeño Hot Sauce (6,000 SHU), Funky's Hot Sauce Factory – Stellar Fuzz (19,000 SHU), Hot Ones – Los Calientes Verde Hot Sauce (34,000 SHU), Good Heat – Queso SIN Queso (52,000 SHU), Cantina Royal – Morita Bourbon Maple Reaper (73,000 SHU), La Pimenterie – The Forbidden Fruit (124,000 SHU), Da' Bomb – Beyond Insanity (135,600 SHU), Chile Monoloco – MataSanos Hot Sauce (680,000 SHU) and Hot Ones – The Last Dab: Xperience (2,693,000).

Staying true to her name, Ice Spice confidently told Evans that she enjoys a little heat in her food. “I actually love spicy food, so yeah,” she said in the episode’s opening.

In anticipation of Ice Spice’s album release, Evans asked the superstar what her creative process has been like. Unlike many artists who typically have to pick and choose what songs ultimately make the final cut, Ice Spice said she was able to keep everything she wanted in her recent project.

“Everything makes the cut…each song that I work on, I really try to make it good enough to put out basically…that hasn’t always been the case, but for this album process that was the case,” she said.

As for how she writes her tunes, Ice Spice explained that she begins with the hook and then writes the verses. However, there is one track on her album in which she left out a hook and went straight to the verse. “I’m excited to hear what the fans think about that one,” she said.

Evans also asked the rapper about her signature tagline “stop playing with 'em, Riot,” which pays homage to RIOTUSA, her longtime record producer and friend: “I would be trying to freestyle and send little voice notes rapping and stuff to my friends. He [RIOTUSA] was gassing me the most out of all my friends. So, I was like maybe we can just work on something…’cause I’mma go where I feel wanted…my other friends [were] being bougie and didn’t want to send me beats. But he was like, one of the only ones who wanted to.”

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Ice Spice’s music first went viral in 2022 when her song “Name of Love” gained traction on SoundCloud. She’s since released a string of major hits, including “Bikini Bottom" and “In Ha Mood,” and collaborated with several big-name stars like Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj. Despite her wins and accolades, Ice Spice said it took her years to find her voice as a rapper.

“I had to just really be more comfortable in the studio,” she said. “Before, I didn’t really have an identity when it came to recording and I would try to sound like other people or what I thought a hit record sounded like until I really just got more comfortable and just started experimenting and really being myself. It took like three years to find my voice I feel like.”

Watch the full "Hot Ones" episode below, courtesy of YouTube: