Ice Spice — "Munch (Feelin' U)"

Originally posted on Some Good Songs.

I miss out on developing local scenes all the time.

When I moved back to NYC for the second time, I sat out most of the second wave of DFA and sleaze-punk “blog bands” because, in retrospect, a lot of them were not my jam. (I do not have FOMO from missing a Bear in Heaven or Tanlines show, for instance.) I followed some from afar, include the rise of Pro Era, Flatbush Zombies, and the Underachievers (whose stomping grounds I now live in). Jersey Club is something that completely escaped me despite only being a boat or train away. There’s likely at least a half dozen or so burgeoning and thriving music scenes happening within a short train ride from me right now, and I won’t hear about it until one of the artists gets signed or goes viral.

Yet I kick myself for completely missing the boat on the rise of Brooklyn Drill. Pop Smoke et. al. were literally up the block from me, and I didn’t pay an ounce of attention until a few months before his untimely demise. Everything Pop Smoke released posthumously doesn’t hold a candle to his Meet the Woo mixtapes, but, once again, who am I to judge as the guy who found out too late? I caught the early side of drill out of Chicago — who could miss the Chief Keef hype train in the ‘10s? — and am caught up on current UK goings-on (Headie One is a personal favorite). Yet I missed what, in retrospect, seems to be one of the biggest scenes in New York music since the ‘00s. So it goes.

One thing I’m not missing out on is the rise of Ice Spice. A drill artist from the Bronx, Ice Spice has a laid back and more provocative take on the genre, with an almost relaxed and hushed delivery, beats that simultaneously hit hard and soft, and tracks that don’t seem to break the two minute mark (based on what’s been released thus far). “Munch,” her breakout hit blowing up TikTok and Spotify playlists, is a refreshing take on the genre that, I must remind you once again, I probably have no business in reviewing.

That said, the song is catchy as all hell, with an almost schoolyard- type chant for a chorus and production that somehow covers both drill while almost stepping into Raider Klan territory. If you haven’t heard it, you will soon, and if you don’t know Ice Spice, she’s about to be everywhere, so what better time than now?