Ice Spice has praised Taylor Swift for her ability to navigate fame and the music industry, along with commenting on the furore around Matty Healy‘s comments.
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The Bronx drill rapper appeared as the latest cover star for Rolling Stone magazine and in her interview, she opened up about working with the ‘Bejeweled’ singer and how her guest verse on the remix of Swift’s track ‘Karma’ came to fruition.
Swift previously championed Ice Spice – real name Isis Gaston – telling Variety: “I relate to Ice in many ways, but I think her dedication and focus is what blew me away from the very start.”
She continued: “She’s extremely professional without being cold. Playful and fun without ever taking her eye off the prize. She knows what is and isn’t ‘her’ and sets those boundaries with grace.
“She studies the industry and other artists’ careers but is very clear about charting her own definitive, original path. It’s her ability to carefully find that balance that impresses the hell out of me.”
While speaking to Rolling Stone, the ‘In Ha Mood’ rapper described the ‘Red’ singer as her “closest celebrity friend” and revealed that she cried “hysterically” when after learning that Swift wanted to work with her.
Ice Spice also addressed those who claimed that Swift’s decision to collaborate with her was in an effort to gain clout. “Why would she not want to be my friend? Taylor fucks with me… she’s so funny. I think our personalities mesh really well,” she said.
Elsewhere in her chat with the publication, the rapper also discussed Matty Healy’s previous comments about her and the row it caused. Last year, The 1975 frontman appeared as a guest on The Adam Friedland Show. In the episode Friedland and co-host Nick Mullen discussed the New York rapper’s heritage, debating whether she has Hawaiian, Inuit or Chinese, before impersonating the accents of those countries and regions.
While Healy didn’t participate in the mocking of accents, he did laugh along with the podcast hosts. The episode has since been taken down. Healy has since publicly apologised to Ice Spice over the comments.
Taylor Swift and Ice Spice performing in 2023. Credit: Kevin Mazur/TAS23/Getty Images
“I just feel a bit bad, and I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you. Ice Spice, I’m sorry,” he said during one of the band’s gigs in Auckland as part of a show on the band’s ‘At Their Very Best’ tour. “It’s not because I’m annoyed that me joking got misconstrued. It’s because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a dick. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry.
“He apologised multiple times, but I didn’t realise how big of a deal it was to other people,” the rapper told Rolling Stone. “I feel like people just wanted something to be mad about, I guess. I wasn’t angry or sad or anything. I was just kind of accused. I never really cared about that.”
Ice Spice previously addressed the situation, telling Variety: “When I had heard that little podcast or whatever, I was so confused. Because I heard ‘chubby Chinese lady’ or some shit like that, and I’m like, ‘Huh? What does that even mean?’
“First of all, I’m thick. What do you mean Chinese? What? But then they apologised or whatever. And the whole time, I didn’t really care. But that’s funny because I saw him at the Jean Paul Gaultier party a couple days ago, and he was like, ‘Hey, you OK?’ and I’m like, ‘Of course.’ He apologised to me a bunch of times. We’re good.”
Both Swift and Healy were in a brief relationship last year and fans have theorized that the majority of the ‘Speak Now’ singer’s 11th album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ was allegedly inspired by their romance.
In other news, Ice Spice is due to drop her first full-length project ‘Y2K’ tomorrow (Friday July 26). You can pre-order/pre-save it here.
Earlier this summer, Ice Spice played coy when asked if her former collaborator Taylor Swift would feature on ‘Y2K’: “I don’t know, we’ll see, we’ll see.”
Ice Spice is set to embark on a North American headline tour next week. Find any remaining tickets here.
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