Following the viral success of ‘Munch (Feelin’ U)’, Ice Spice works a fresh EP that may or may not follow the standout quality of the said song. Unfortunately, the EP breaks into sloppily mixed and uninspiring tracks that even with Ice Spice’s signature snarl and rapid flow on the microphone, don’t lead to an EP that unveils more than what she has shown here.
Ice Spice’s breakthrough virality ‘Munch (Feelin’ U)’ tells you everything you need to know about her. In the midst of short viral snippets that blows through TikTok and hip-hop Twitter, Ice Spice’s monotonal snarl, rolling staccato flows, and toughed-up bitch attitude as she rides on a spare drill beat fits that formula. A formula that works well for her too, as she follows the success cycle with a few more tracks under her belt, more or less following what made that song a success in the first place.
To follow up on that surge of success, the song is now packaged alongside newly formed tracks in ‘Like…?’, Ice Spice’s debut EP that does nothing more but thin out that aspect showcased in ‘Munch (Feelin’ U)’. It is not without at least some highlights, most of these coming from Ice Spice herself. For the majority of these tracks, Ice Spice can pull off these flows that dribble around the beat, and her monotone delivery picks up a consistent rawness as she pillages down the men and women that want to foil her down and then elevates herself up. And again, on songs like ‘Munch (Feelin’ U)’ with the sharp jagged drill trap beat and spare bass percussion, Ice Spice’s assured confidence as an MC does shine as she rolls out some memorable lines here and there (“You thought I was feelin’ you? / That — a munch”, “If you ain’t a baddie, can’t sit with me / I swear that these bitches my mimi-me’s”). And on ‘Actin A Smoochie’, the vocal samples amidst chirpier synth lines and that quaint bass line helps out varying things out, especially with Ice Spice confronts the guy to just leave her alone as she just wants to get the money and nothing more.
This EP sure is a showing of what Ice Spice can do on one lane but not much else. Not to say that this is emblematic of Ice Spice’s overall showcase but it unfortunately puts her into a corner, where her consistency to put out songs that swerve into one-dimensional flexing doesn’t lead to her standing out in the crowd, especially when that brand of flexing and turning away guys and gals who don’t reach the same level as Ice Spice has been done before and has been done at least a little more ambitious at that. And while it can probably work for her, the production unfortunately does not at all. Bass mixes go haywire as they sound creaked and almost cracked out on the seams, most notable on tracks like ‘Bikini Bottom’ and ‘In Ha Mood’, not helped with trap percussion that also mixed upfront in an unflattering way. And when it comes to the songs sounding sticky besides the decent rap flows that Ice Spice pulls off, it also doesn’t materialize either, with ‘In Ha Mood’ ending up with the worst one yet as it goes to annoyingly repetitive ventures.
What can be pulled out from this entire EP is that it’s clearly trying to replicate what ‘Munch (Feelin’ U)’ sounded like, but it falls flat as the rest of the tracks not only feel like downplays of said song but also pretty much retreads the same lyrical motifs that lack the neatly constructed one-liners that at least make ‘Munch (Feelin’ U)’ a standout in the first place. That, and with production and melodies that sound badly mixed or don’t have that much memorable tune, it only deflates Ice Spice as an artist in a way that can affect her longevity and presence in the spotlight. While her feature on ‘Boy’s a liar Pt. 2’ shows more of what she can do, it’s only one step, and maybe it can lead to something much more interesting for her in the future.
Favorite Tracks: Munch (Feelin’ U), Actin A Smoothie
Least Favorite Track: In Ha Mood, Bikini Bottom