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Taylor Swift has praised rapper Ice Spice for how she managed to navigate fame and the music industry early on in her career.
The “In Ha Mood” star is the latest artist to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, as she opened up about her early beginnings, feuds and collaborations with fellow musicians, and how she came to perform a guest verse on the remix of Swift’s song “Karma”.
Swift, who championed Ice Spice last year and invited her to join her on stage during her record-breaking Eras tour, told the publication that she admired the rapper’s determination to be involved in the business side of her career.
“I love when I meet a new artist who takes a keen interest in not just the music, but the music industry and how it works,” she said.
“I’ve seen how our industry tries to convince artists that they’re better off just being creative and making music and letting the labels and the management do the rest. Seeing Ice lean into the strategic, financial, and business aspects of her career is really exciting for me.”
She added: “The more artists learn about the inner workings of the music industry, the more power they can have in their creative world. I knew based on the questions she asked and the observations she made that she didn’t just want to be a passenger in her own career. She wanted to be the driver of it.”
Describing the Grammy-winning pop titan as her “closest celebrity friend”, Ice Spice, real name Isis Naija Gaston, admitted that she cried “hysterically” when she heard that Swift wanted to work with her.
She also hit back against critics who suggested Swift’s decision to work with her was an attempt to gain clout: “Why would she not want to be my friend? Taylor f***s with me... she’s so funny. I think our personalities mesh really well.”
Swift previously said that collaborating with Ice Spice on “Karma” came about naturally: “She reached out through her team, just kind of saying, ‘Hey, Ice has been a big fan of Taylor’s since she was a little kid, would love to collaborate if that was ever something that came about.’”
Speaking in Spotify audio for her artist profile, the “Anti-Hero” singer added: “I had been listening to her nonstop, like getting ready for my tour, I was just listening to Ice Spice constantly.
“So I immediately got her number and said, ‘Hey, would you wanna do your version of ‘Karma’? Do you relate to this?’ So she jumped in headfirst.”
The pair have been seen hanging out together since, including when Swift cheered on her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, at the 2024 Super Bowl.
In the same interview, Ice Spice also addressed the fallout after The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, whom Swift briefly dated, made comments about her that many deemed to be racially insensitive during a podcast interview.
Ice, born to an African-American father and Dominican mother, said she didn’t learn about Healy’s remarks until around a month later.
“He apologised multiple times, but I didn’t realise how big of a deal it was to other people,” she said. “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 releases her debut studio album, Y2K!, on Friday 26 July.
