Ice Spice: Protecting her privacy, Nicki Minaj collaborations and Taylor Swift BFF goals all in this Apple Music Q&A

Who doesn’t have nearly an hour to spare during these summer months? Rap superstar Ice Spice pulled through for a super fun sit-down with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe and the conversation is definitely eye-catching along with interesting.

From talking about her close-knit connection to Young Money’s Nicki Minaj and linking up with country music icon Taylor Swift to dishing on the importance of protecting her privacy, there’s no holding back for Ice Spice. Tap in.

Ice Spice: The New York rap star talks Taylor Swift collaboration, Drake and Doja Cat touring

Rap star Ice Spice is leveling up in a big way and has dished out on just how much she’s glowed up over the past 12 months. So it’s only right the hip-hop heavyweight talks to Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe on everything from Doja Cat touring and Taylor Swift collaborating to rap mentors like Nicki Minaj and Drake.

As we always do around this time, kick back and check out the details.

Ice Spice on collaborating with Taylor Swift…

I was home and my manager called me, and was like, "Oh, Taylor wants you on a record." And I'm like, "Taylor?"

He texted me, "Oh, call me. I have to tell you something," whatever. And he usually would just text me anything. Right?

So I'm like, "Okay." And I was having a really bad day also, I would like to say that. I was having a terrible day. I was crying all morning because I was just so mad at something. And then he called me with that news. And then I cried more, because it was good news. 

"My life is a rollercoaster. How I started the day crying and I'm ending it crying, but for different reasons."

It was amazing. We went to the studio and she's so humble and so nice. I kid you not. I pulled up to the studio and she outside waiting for me. I'm like, "Why is Taylor Swift outside?” Like, "Taylor, what are you doing here?” So she's great. She's so funny. We text all the time. She is fucking hilarious. I'm not going to lie. She's the funniest person ever.

Ice Spice on Taylor Swift bringing her out during her Eras Tour...

After the show, because shout out to her, she brought me out to her stadium shows. Can you believe that? I did a stadium show before an arena. That was nuts. I'm not going to lie.

[The audience felt like] Little lights twinkling. And no, but it's crazy because you hear all this, the roar that you hear in a Taylor Swift show is unmatched. I don't think I've ever heard that. And there's so many... So I tried to watch the show. Sorry, I'm jumping everywhere. I'm just so excited about this experience. But I tried to watch the show and I was like, "No one's going to notice me. They're paying attention to whatever." So I'm standing there trying to be low-key. And then this one little seven year old girl screams my name. And she was like, "Ice Spice." She was like, "'Boy's a Liar', ‘In Ha Mood'." And I'm like, "Oh my gosh, she's so fucking cute." And then a bunch of other little girls just appeared and they just was trying to take pictures. And I was like, "All right, child. Let me go back to the dressing room and wait until it's my turn to come out." But her show was amazing, and I'm just so grateful. Like 200,000 people, I think we performed for.

Ice Spice Tells Apple Music about having Nicki Minaj and Drake as mentors…

I feel like I am absorbing advice from her [Nicki] and learning from her and stuff. 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.

[With Drake] We talk all the time and we're always just laughing about some things that go on. 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.

Ice Spice on her upcoming tour with Doja Cat…

Yes. I'm so excited. Yes. The way she announced that and who was rolling out, I was like, "Okay, that might be the tour of the year." For you to be going out there and playing on a stage like that with someone who I feel had, in her own way, a similar experience. She came out and she was really counted out. People didn't really understand the level of talent, the level of commitment, of hard work, of discipline. She's proven that time and time again. Now no one doubts it anymore. It's like she's lived three lives in one life. So what's your sort of relationship with her at this point? Are you both just mutual fans of each other? Have you connected, have you been able to share these experiences? She's real, real, real sweet. She's real nice. And we just need to chill some more. You know what I'm saying?

To really vibe a little more. But I love her down. I'm really a fan of her. My little sister put me onto her in 2018. Wow. And I remember watching her right before she actually blew up crazy. And I was watching her tour and she did a mini tour in Europe or something. And I was so inspired by her and just watching her, I was like, "Wow, I just know she's going to be big." And then later that year, she was the biggest thing on the planet. Yeah. I think she's better than me at that.

Ice Spice on meeting North West and inspiring young people…

Ice Spice: I have so many fans in high school and in middle school and even babies. I love seeing little babies dance to my music and stuff like that. And just for my siblings and just myself, my music inspires myself. I'm not going to lie.

Zane Lowe: And also that idea of being able to, like you say, manifest something into action. How do you think you're going to feel when an artist comes up to you and looks at you the way you looked at Nicki?

Ice Spice: I feel like that's going to be crazy, but I'm not going to lie, some people kind of do that now. Yeah, especially when I meet such young fans and stuff. When I met North West, she was screaming at the top of her lungs. And I was like, "Girl, you're more famous than me." She's great though. 

Zane Lowe: And that means that she's going to hear your music and be a fucking fan. Just be a fan.

Ice Spice: Yeah. She's great though. Aw, she's so cute. But those are the fans and that age group and stuff like that, that I really want to inspire. Because they're so innocent and they're so cute and they just want to have fun.

Ice Spice on growing up in the Bronx…

A childhood in the Bronx, I'm not going to lie, is fun, for me. That's how my childhood was. I know a lot of people in the Bronx have different experiences, especially depending on what part of the Bronx you from. But I had a fun childhood. I mean, I only know it from my perspective. I don't know... You know what I'm saying? It's hard to compare it to other people. Huge music place, yeah. When you're walking on Fordham, stores just playing music to try to get you to come in. The stores will have the music playing and on a speaker outside.

Coi Leray: The rap star talks new album and putting out 'Bops' to the masses with Apple Music

There’s really no competition when it comes to the streaming giants. Apple Music delivers on a regular basis and it’s deeper than rap, it’s really all about the interviews especially when you have hip-hop artist Coi Leray pulling through with Apple Music 1’s Eddie Francis to dish on everything from her new ‘Bops’ single to her next studio effort.

Coi Leray dishes on a variety of topics and while you’ll have to wait for the full-fledged video portion, peep some of the conversation highlights from the Eddie Francis Apple Music 1 convo.

Coi Leray Tells Apple Music About New Single “Bops”...

Come on. East Coast all day. It just has big energy period. I got to talk my s**t. I like to talk my s**t. I like to say what I got to say. And yeah, I'm just blessed and grateful to be here. I just been recording. I've been working on my debut, not my debut album, my second studio album. And I just, I'm always so versatile. One minute I want to sing, next minute I want to turn up. So in that case, once I heard the beat from Johnny Goldstein, once I heard the beat, I'm like, "Oh my God, this s**t is going to be insane." And I automatically got a hop right on it and I just got to talk my s**t, like summertime's coming and yeah, I feel like I got a lot to say.

Coi Leray Tells Apple Music Her Forthcoming Second Album is Going To Be “One of the Biggest Projects Ever”...

I'm so excited about this second album because it's really mostly myself. I told myself, like I have a couple features, which I'm going to keep it discreet because it's only literally a little bit, not even a handful, but I've been working on this project constantly, constantly. I stay in the studio. As you can see, I'm in my home. It's my home studio here. I'm constantly in the studio 24/7. I'm amazing when it comes to that mic. And at the end of the day, I know this project is going to be one of the biggest projects ever. Nobody's f***ing with me on it. When it comes to my melodies, my versatility, whether if I'm rapping, singing, doing the baby voice, if I'm dancing or whatever it is, I'm just that girl. And I say that in the most humble way. I feel like a lot of the headlines kind of overshadow my true talent and what God really brought me here to do. So I just can't wait because this album's going to show that and make people really put them in they face. And also the second album's going to make people go back to Trendsetter and make them actually appreciate it for the music instead of the bullshit and the negative headlines and Coi Leray always being the topic. This album is all about me. This is another thing. So I'll be 26. I feel like I look so young and people forget that I am actually a young adult developing into a very grown woman, and this is just Coi on a whole nother level, and that's a little hint for you.

Coi Leray Tells Apple Music About Her Rise To Fame and Motivation To Continue To Inspire...

I want to become the next icon, the next it girl for my generation. I feel like I am the best of my generation, I'm not even going to lie to you. And I feel like I hold that down. I was the first to break on TikTok, whether if it was No More Parties, BIG PURR, Blick Blick!, Anxiety, just every year upping my next move. Trendsetter, my album, to now having the top 10 record in the f***ing world. I just feel like it's go time. It's time for people to wake up and understand I'm here forever and there's a lot that I brought to this industry and I just want to continue to motivate, continue to inspire, continue to set trends, and just be the best I could be for real.

Coi Leray Tells Apple Music About Dealing With Body Shaming Her Entire Career…

I'm prepared for whatever honestly. I've dealt with the body shaming situation, honestly my whole entire career. Shout out to all the slim women out there. I feel like I actually paved that way in the music industry for a slim woman to just finally be accepted, honestly, after a very long time. I'm talking since Mya and Left Eye days. And it's something important you talk about. It's very something important you talk about. I wake up every day and say, "I love my body." I don't give a f**k. When I put my clothes on, I'm not saying "Yo, I'm going to put this on troll." I'm putting it on because I love to look good, I love to feel good. And that's what I personally, genuinely love to wear and like. When they make it about the body, it's just ongoing. This gets old after a while. It really does.

Coi Leray Tells Apple Music About Her First Coachella...

That was so dope. Shout Shenseea, shout out Tokischa. She brought us up. It was dope. The energy was super fire. It was hot as hell out there. And then the next day we end up, we performed at Revolve. That was my first time at Coachella ever. Had one of the most amazing times of my life. I got super lit. And yeah, what happens at Coachella stays at Coachella. And yeah, that's just period, we outside.

Here's 6 key moments from Metro Boomin's new Apple Music 1 Q&A

It’s a celebration for Metro Boomin right now. Fresh from putting out his new Heroes & Villains studio album, the hip-hop hitmaker chops it up with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden to dish on everything from his new project to where his relationship with Hollywood icon Morgan Freeman stems.

The conversation is epic so here’s six key moments from the chop up session.

Metro Boomin Tells Apple Music ‘Heroes & Villains’ Is The Second Part of a Trilogy That Started with 2018’s ’NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES’…

Exclusive right here. This is the second out of a trilogy. It's going to be a trilogy. (Ebro: Now, is the third piece coming soon, or are you just going to see how this flow?) I'm going to see how this flow, because I really want to shoot a lot of videos to this one, and I've put a lot of time into this body of work. So I really want to stretch it, and not just throw out the third one.

Metro Boomin Tells Apple Music Why He Didn’t Have Any Production Credits on Future’s ‘I NEVER LIKED YOU’…

None, but let me tell you why. Let me tell you why; he actually finished most of the album at my studio in LA, the one you came to. That's my brother, but we working on some things. At first, we were going to put a couple songs with me and him on the album, but I had asked him, we had took them off, because I had talked to him, and I was like, "Look, the last time anybody's really heard a song from me and you was ‘Mask Off,’ you know what I'm saying?" So instead of us randomly throwing this one or two songs we did on here, we got to wait and just give them a joint.

Metro Boomin Tells Apple Music About Producing The Track “More M’s” for Drake and 21 Savage’s Album Her Loss…

This song called ‘More M’s,’ I remember we was in the same studio I'm talking about in LA, where I do everything at, Savage was in the front room. He had told me they were working on a project, so he's always like, "Man, I need beats. Beats, beats, beats," so I was making some beats one day, and it's crazy, that beat that went straight on there, it's like when I was making it, I cooked it on the MP 2000 XL, just like I said about that trust, it's just knowing him, and what he likes, and what he don't like, and what kind of bounces, and what kind of drum sounds, even sub sounds, is going to make him do what, and what tempos. I just had all that in mind, and I made a beat, and the next day, I played him like eight beats, and he had picked a few of them out, but when he heard that one, that was the one he just pulled up instantly, and then I went back in the other room. Then he was like, "Come in the room and listen to this." He was really vibing with that song hard, real hard, and he ended up sending it the Drake, and he did his part, and sent it back, and there we go.

Metro Boomin Tells Apple Music How He Got Morgan Freeman To Narrate SAVAGE MODE II…

I had the idea of somebody narrating it, because I was like, "Okay, it's Savage Mode II. It's been a while for both of us. It has to be a movie." I love movies. My love for music is through the roof, and movies is right there with it. So I was like, "Man, we need a crazy iconic voice to narrate this thing," and we were thinking of some things; I had thought about DMX. Rest in peace to X, for sure, and me and my manager, Cash, were talking, and then we were just like, "Yo, what if we got Morgan Freeman on this?" Just ambitiously. We had no line on him, just anything. It was like, "What's the craziest thing we could think of?" "Man, if Morgan Freeman did this, that would just be insane," and we ended up just connecting the dots, man. I talked to Savage about it, and he was like, "Yeah, that would be crazy.” We ended up reaching out, and shout out to Big Rube, first off, I want to say Big Rube, Dungeon Family, he wrote the whole script, everywhere. His voice is crazy, and on the original demos, when they was voicing everything in there, it was crazy still. You know what I'm saying? Shout out to Rube for putting that together and coming through, man. But Morgan, actually, he had really liked the script, and what it was saying, and the values, and certain things in it, and he felt like it was important for young people to hear those things, and the lessons.

Metro Boomin Tells Apple Music About Sampling Mario Winans and Enya on “Creepin” and How He Ended Up Contributing To Album Production…

I'm big believer in just letting the music make itself, kind of, you know what I'm saying? So once again, me and Cash were talking one day about what songs that me and Abel were going to do for the album, and he had told me before, he was like, "Do you know he's always wanted to liked or kind of of flirted with the idea of touching [‘I Don’t Wanna Know’]?” And I let him know I love that song. That's one that was a no-brainer for me. Growing up, who didn't love that song at the time? And at the same time, I have a great relationship with Mario Winans. He's like a big brother/mentor type figure. So I had started working on the idea for the song, and I came to Abel like, "Yo, let's try to redo..." I didn't tell him that Cash told me already. I was like, "Yo, what you think about redoing it"? And he was like, "Yeah." He was already into it, so I was like, "Cool." Man, it just came together crazy. Mario, actually, production-wise, he helped with some of the other songs on the album. He's crazy with it. Just a little ear candy here and there, he just put in there. You know what I'm saying? So me and him were talking about doing that as well, or I had told him that I was starting on it, and he helped me out with a lot of things on it. He actually did backgrounds, a lot of backgrounds under Abel on there.

Metro Boomin Tells Apple Music a So Icey Boyz Project with Southside is Coming…

That's my twin, man. So Icey Boyz, that's our production duo inspired by the whole Neptunes concept. We were like, "Man, we got to call it, we're the So Icey Boyz as a title. We're going to do a project, a So Icey Boyz project, and yeah, Southside, man, that's my twin forever. That's one of them things. I got a lot of stuff lined up, like this HEROES & VILLAINS, after the hiatus. I spilled the beans, but yeah, man, So Icey Boyz, that's going to be incredible.