Ice Spice Says Drake and Nicki Minaj Mentor Her

It has not even been a year since Ice Spice broke out into the mainstream with her “Munch” hit, but she has already seemed to have befriended many of the industry’s biggest names. After telling the Guardian earlier this month that she and Taylor Swift “talk all the time,” following their “Karma” collaboration, Spice revealed to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe on July 14 that Drake has taken her under his wing as a quasi-protegé.

“We talk all the time and we’re always just laughing about some things that go on,” she told Lowe about Drake. “And I’ll ask him, ‘What should I do with this? Or how’d you go about this? Or did you ever experience that?’ And he’ll, I’m not going to give real examples, but he’ll tell me, ‘I did this and you should do that, too, because you can.’ And I’ll be like, ‘You’re right. Period. I’m going to do that.’ It’s like coach vibes.”

Drake and Spice first met last August, when he welcomed her to his OVO Fest in Toronto, the same month “Munch” was released. Speaking about the experience with Spotify soon after, Spice gushed about how much fun she had.

“He’s mad nice and respectful. We went to OVO Fest, it was exciting because it was his first time performing in Toronto, I think in like a couple of years,” she said. “Everybody was excited. The energy was high. Nicki performed, it was lit. Wayne did his thing. That shit was crazy.”

Two months later, though, when Drake released his Her Loss collaborative album with 21 Savage, fans believed Drake dissed Spice and her music when he rapped She a ten tryna rap, it’s good on mute on the song “BackOutsideBoyz.” In response, Spice would jokingly tweet, “at least ima 10.” However, in a January interview with New York Times, Spice guaranteed she and Drake were on good terms. “We’re cool. “We spoke after that a couple times and we’re good. There’s no beef,” she said.

So, it would appear that after being friends, then having somewhat of a fall-out, Drake and Spice have developed a strong connection, bonding over constantly being in the spotlight. Along with Drake, Spice also told Lowe that she considers Nicki Minaj to be a mentor of her’s as well, as they recently worked together on Spice’s “Princess Diana” remix.

“I feel like I am absorbing advice from her and learning from her and stuff,” she said. “And she’ll tell me, ‘Learn from my mistake, do this or don’t do that,’ or whatever. And I just really pay attention to what she’s saying. Because if there’s anyone I’m going to listen to it’s the queen.”

On Wednesday (July 19), Ice Spice announced the deluxe edition of her January EP Like..?, which is set to release this Friday (July 21). While she has not revealed the track list for the Like..? deluxe, it seems likely that it could include some more star appearances, as her collaborations with PinkPantheress, Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift have all topped charts this year.

Photo: Tina Benitez-Eves