11 things to know about Ice Spice, the New York rapper with more monthly Spotify listeners than The Beatles

Real name Isis Gaston, Ice Spice was born in the Bronx neighborhood of New York City. She is the oldest of five siblings.

According to Audiomack, her father, a former underground rapper, is Nigerian-American. Her mother is Dominican.

Growing up, the 23-year-old star was commonly referred to as "Ice" because of her real name, Isis.

"I chose Ice Spice because it literally rhymes," she told Elle last month. "Plus I love spicy food. I put hot sauce on everything."

—Ice Spice ☆ (@icespicee_) January 9, 2021

After high school, Ice attended the State University of New York at Purchase, a liberal arts school in Westchester County.

During her time there, she went viral for her rendition of the Erica Banks "Buss It" TikTok challenge.

To date, the video has been watched over 3.1 million times.

At Purchase, Ice met producer RIOTUSA, who produced her debut single "Bully Freestyle," released in March 2021.

RIOTUSA later produced the rapper's breakout single, "Munch (Feelin' You)," which in September 2022 peaked at No. 34 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

"RIOTUSA. Shout out to him. Best producer in the city," Ice told Interview in December.

Before charting, "Munch (Feelin' U)" was played by Drake on his Sirius XM radio station, Sound 42. The Toronto rapper also messaged Ice to compliment her on the single.

"[Drake] complimenting 'Munch' brought even more attention to me and the song," she told Complex.

Though he didn't share her music like Drake, Lil Nas X grew interested in Ice when he dressed as her for Halloween in 2022. He wore a green crop top and orange nails, similar to how Ice appeared in her "Munch (Feelin U)" music video, as well as an orange curly wig.

"He ate me. He cleared me," she told The Cut of Lil Nas X's costume. "He had the orange nails. He had the puff. He had everything to a T. He did me better than me."

Ice dropped her debut EP, "Like..?" earlier this year. It was announced only hours prior to its release, according to Rolling Stone.

The six-track project, which was executively produced by RIOTUSA, peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 and No. 19 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

"I'm inspired by Nicki [Minaj], Lil Kim, Cardi B. All of the greats. I'm definitely inspired by Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu," she told Billboard in October.

"But I definitely want to like have my own lane. Where like, it's just it's mine. And not like really copying somebody."

"She's the GOAT. She's gorgeous. I love her. I'm obsessed with her," Ice told Elle. 

As of March 2023, The Beatles have 28.1 million monthly listeners, whereas Ice Spice has 31.8 million.

Her most popular song on the streaming platform is "Boy's a Liar Pt. 2" with Pink Pantheress, which has over 141 million streams. The song earned both artists their first appearances on the Billboard Hot 100, with it reaching No. 3 in early March.

In September 2021, Ice tweeted: "What's it called when you're attracted to masculinity in women and femininity in men."

During an interview with Ebro Darden on Apple Music 1 in January, the rapper said she favors "good boys and girls" over "squares."