Munchkins, your time is now! After dominating 2023 with four Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits, and kicking off the year with four Grammy nominations — including best new artist — and a Super Bowl commercial, Ice Spice has finally unveiled her debut studio album.
Titled Y2K! — a nod to her Jan. 1, 2000, birthday — the new record finds the Bronx rapper assuming her throne as the queen of New York drill. The album builds on the dynamic she and go-to producer RiotUSA established with 2023’s Like..? EP, looping in new names like Lily Kaplan, Nico Baran, Synthetic and Venny to add different textures to Ice’s take on drill. The album finds its anchors in those skittering snares, but nods to Jersey Club, nifty dancehall samples and star-studded collaborations (Travis Scott, Gunna and Central Cee) make Y2K! feel much more expansive than its predecessor.
And yet, at just under half an hour, Y2K! never tries to be something that it’s not, or overstay its welcome. This is an unfussy collection of 10 tracks that double down on Ice’s (sometimes) poop-minded metaphors, her trademark laid-back flow (although she does beef up her voice for the album’s most drill-forward tracks), and her effortless charisma that captivated the world by way of “Munch” two summers ago.
The “Princess Diana” rapper brought in 2024 with “Think U the Shit (Fart),” a hilariously infectious joint that found her throwing shots at fellow Grammy-nominated rapper Latto over a beat that played on the wonky video game-esque synths of new jazz. Although that track peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 — her highest peak for a solo single — the Y2K! era would not begin in earnest until the springtime, with the Sean Paul-sampling “Gimmie A Light” arriving on May 10.
She then revealed the New York-themed album cover — which drew some ire due to the LP’s title being digitally spray-painted over a trash can — on June 5, with a pre-release single “Phat Butt” arriving later that month (June 21) ahead of her 2024 BET Awards performance. By July, Ice had unleashed the record’s latest radio single, the Central Cee-assisted “Did It First,” which became her first Hot 100 entry since “Fart,” debuting at No. 62 on the chart dated July 27. She also spent the first half of the year guesting on Cash Cobain and Bay Swag’s “Fisherrr” remix and preparing for her upcoming Y2K! World Tour, which kicked off on July 4 at the Rockslide Festival, marking her first headlining trek.
Read Billboard’s ranking of every song on Ice Spice’s Y2K! LP.
https://www.billboard.com/lists/ice-spice-y2k-songs-ranked-review/