When she emerged with her deadpan, sure-shot flow on 2022’s “Munch (Feelin’ U),” Ice Spice planted her flag as drill music’s next torchbearer. A subgenre predicated on hard-nosed beats, sugary samples and slippery flows, drill was largely front-lined by male rappers (the late Pop Smoke, Fivio Foreign) until Spice crashed in, injecting it straight into pop music’s aorta thanks to co-signs from and hits with Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj.
Success came quickly for the then-22-year-old, who infused colloquialisms from her native Bronx and Gen Z meme culture into nimble anthems produced by her musical co-pilot RiotUSA. Songs like “Deli” and “In Ha Mood” struck the right equilibrium between street and pop sensibility — just hard enough for rap purists, softened around the edges for broader appeal — and set the table for what was leaning toward a mainstream breakthrough with her debut album.
Spice doesn’t fully stick the landing on “Y2K!,”…
