Ice Spice teams up with UK rapper Central Cee on Did It First. Whenever Ice Spice partners with another artist the project is always successful, in part because she works with powerhouse musicians who already have huge fan bases. But, those artists are usually women.

Her collaborators are usually well-established women in music who have similar appeal and personalities to her own on and off-stage: PinkPanthress, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift and Doja Cat.

In February 2023, Ice Spice appeared on Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2 (881 million+ on Spotify) a PinkPantheress single. That March, it peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then came the Princess Diana remix with her idol Nicki Minaj. She then rapped with Nicki Minaj on the song Barbie World (with Aqua) from Barbie The Album. She guested on Taylor Swift’s 2023 single Karma, which hit No. 2 on the Hot 100. Ice Spice turned that popularity surge into 12 performances as Doja Cat’s opening act for The Scarlet Tour. It was her first time performing in arenas, which set her up for even bigger stages like Coachella last April. 

Central Cee’s recent single BAND4BAND with Lil Baby spent weeks on the global charts. His single Sprinter from the Split Decision project with Dave was the most played song of 2023 on Spotify UK. The single was the longest-running number one rap song in the UK, holding the position for 10 weeks. Last year, he became the first UK Rapper to hit 2 billion streams on Spotify. He has over 10 billion streams worldwide.

At 24 years old, Ice Spice is a four-time GRAMMY-nominee and has earned two People’s Choice Awards, an MTV VMA, a BET Hip-Hop Award, and the Hitmaker Award at the 2024 Billboard Women In Music event. It’s hard to believe she just fully started her music career only three years ago.

Ice Spice teaming up with Central Cee makes for a powerful collaboration. They are both highly decorated artists but he’s not the first male artist she’s worked with. She partnered with popular Nigerian rapper, singer and songwriter Rema on Pretty Girl (with Rema) last year. Like her projects with female artists that offered new opportunities, the ones with Rema and Central Cee have set the stage for future partnerships. The doors have already opened for Ice Spice to work on separate upcoming collaborations with two American heavyweight rappers — Travis Scott, and Gunna.

The video for Did It First, released on July 11, reached 28.5 million views already on YouTube and 89 million streams on Spotify in just over seven weeks. That’s not including social media or other streaming platforms.

Did It First is from the Y2K! album released on July 26 for which Ice Spice embarked on a world tour. Learn the location of Ice Spice’s final show on the Y2K! World Tour in Core Music Events 2024. View the official video for Did It First: HERE.

by Cherryl Bird – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
X @ladycbird | Instagram @cherrylbird