Munch on that! Ice Spice Highlights 2024 Grammy Awards Nominees for Best New Artist
Going into the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 4, many of music's biggest names are made clear by the list of nominees for the most prestigious awards - be it for Album, Song or Record of the Year.
Beyond that, there's Sunday's list of nominees for Best New Artist, which offers a preview of a select few, relatively new faces who'll be among music's marquee acts in the latter half of the 2020s.
Enter 24-year-old drill rapper Ice Spice, arguably the most recognizable individual in contention for the aforementioned recognition this Sunday.
Born Isis Naija Gaston in The Bronx on Jan. 1, 2000, to an African American father and Dominican mother, Ice Spice rose to fame with the single "Munch (Feelin' U)," released in late 2022. The song was featured on the rapper's 2023 debut EP, "Like..?"
Ice Spice is up for three other Grammy awards this weekend. Her single with fellow rapper Nicki Minaj, "Barbie World," was nominated for Best Rap Song and Best Song Written for Visual Media. As you might have guessed, the song was featured on the soundtrack of "Barbie," the film starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera that grossed a 2023-best $1.4 billion at the box office.
Last and definitely not least, the "Bikini Bottom" rapper and 12-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift have been nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the remixed version of "Karma." The song's video has over 51 million views on Swift's official YouTube channel alone.
Now, as promising as Sunday may be for Ice Spice, she faces stiff competition for the Best New Artist prize in R&B/pop artist Victoria Monet.
Monet, 34, is tied with Phoebe Bridgers and Serban Ghenea with seven nominations at this year's Grammy ceremony, the second highest amount behind R&B artist SZA's nine nominations.
Besides Best New Artist, the Atlanta-born singer received nominations for Record of the Year, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Performance, Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
Monet, who released the album "Jaguar II" last year, shares the nomination for Best Traditional R&B Performance - for the song "Hollywood" - with Earth, Wind & Fire and her 2-year-old daughter, Hazel Monet. Hazel, who turns 3 on Feb. 21, is the youngest Grammy nominee in history, Rolling Stone reported last November.
Rounding out the nominees for Best New Artist at Sunday's Grammy Awards are Fred Again, Jelly Roll, Coco Jones, Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams and The War and Treaty.