As neon lights danced across the stage and opening synths of Lil Tjay‘s "Calling My Phone" echoed through the packed venue, rising rap superstar Ice Spice made a dazzling entrance in a striped fur coat and bedazzled orange sunglasses. Her electrifying throwback performance, featuring special guest Lil Tjay himself, left an New York City crowd in awe last Saturday night.
The Rise of a New Rap Heroine
The rapper-singer Ice Spice seemed to materialize from nowhere in 2022 with her breakout viral hit "Munch (Feelin‘ U)". With its low-key flow paired with Spice‘s brazen bars declaring "He wanna eat me, eat me ‘til I‘m comatose", the track sparked a TikTok dance craze and established Ice Spice as a fresh voice blending brevity and boldness.
But Spice was no overnight success. The 22-year-old Bronx native first caught industry ears in 2020, previewing her bulletproof bravado and knack for pithy punchlines on a series of Soundcloud uploads. As she continued dropping tracks manifesting boss moves over murky trap beats, Ice Spice quickly amassed a fanbase drawn to both her mic skills and no-nonsense confidence.
The rising MC joins a vanguard of female rappers like Cardi B, City Girls and Megan Thee Stallion ushering in a new era where womxn in hip hop own their sexuality. Through provocative and clever bars paired with bold styling, they nod to 90‘s queens like Lil Kim while pushing barriers.
Spice leans into this precedent without recycling it. Flipping explicit and suggestive lines like sneaker brands namedrops, she exudes a casual poise implying she doesn‘t need to try hard with the boys or bars. Her flow sounds almost nonchalant, like she just rolled out of bed looking to start some trouble and trend on TikTok.
The breakout viral hit "Munch (Feelin‘ U)" distills Ice Spice‘s essence into catchy shorthand over a twinkling sample. The finger-licking hook consumes the track at just 85 seconds, making it ripe for snippet success. Of course TikTok quickly followed, igniting a viral craze that‘s spawned over 500K video creations and over 150M streams on Spotify alone. Beyond metrics, “Munch‘s” real impact was confirming the arrival of rap’s boldest new “it girl” armed with heavy drip, weighty punchlines, and zero effs left for haters.
The Sitcom Synergy of Lil Tjay
Fellow New York rapper Lil Tjay earned his buzz by mixing heart-on-sleeve songwriting with golden era hip-hop instincts. Musically he keeps one foot planted firmly in throwback R&B, jazz and boom-bap foundations while shooting melodic raps from the other. With vulnerable breakup songs and soaring anthems, his music resonates by channeling timeless yet contemporary feelings.
The 20-year-old Bronx native born Tione Merritt grew up on JAY-Z, 50 Cent and The Notorious B.I.G. but also soaked up smooth jams from Usher, Ginuwine and pre-scandal R.Kelly bumped around his household. Early tracks like breakout 2019 single “Resume” show Tjay balancing old-school NYC references with Top 40 savvy melodies.
Channeling throwback R&B even deeper, breakthrough smash “Calling My Phone” interpolates Ginuwine’s same-titled ballad while pairing Tjay with alt-R&B outsider SZA over broody mid-tempo synths. The track peaked at #3 on the Billboard charts, helping cement Tjay’s crossover ability. Multiple singles nabbed double-platinum status as his 2021 The Destined 2 Win project scanned nearly 2 million equivalent units.
While his vulnerable love songs score streaming numbers, Lil Tjay often shines brightest when uniting yin-yang dynamic with a foil. Collabs with Polo G (“Pop Out”), 6lack (“Calling My Phone”) Fivio Foreign (“Not In The Mood”), Toosii (“Love Hurts”) reveal new depths in his artistry. Perhaps this chemistry reflects how Tjay developed his style not solo, but standing on NYC corner cyphers to face the fire of engaging peers with shared cultural DNA.
Mashing Up Millenial Classics
So when Tjay and Ice Spice come together, creative sparks seem inevitable. Both MCs rep their hometown with flavors from formative influences spanning hip hop history. Linking live onstage, their inner 90‘s babies unite to mash the best of both coastal generational touchstones while pushing into the future.
The concert setlist itself read like a "Now That‘s What I Call Nostalgia!" tracklist come to life. Moments after Spice strutted onstage, the snaking synths of Tjay‘s 6lack-assisted summer smash “Calling My Phone” came through the speakers and the crowd roared in recognition.
Decked out backup dancers outfitted in low rise baggy jeans, exposed thongs, midriff-flaunting tops and du-rags joined Ice Spice in nailing choreography any MTV video vixen would envy. As she bopped downstage lip-syncing Tjay’s lyrics, it felt like we‘d been transported back to the early 2000‘s era made famous by Jay-Z and Beyonce‘-style hip hop power couples in music videos…with a bit more skin shown.
Quickly shedding the fur coat to reveal a sequined halter bra top and denim shorts with the iconic exposed red thong, Ice Spice led her dancers in mashing up the moves with sultry shakes pulled straight from hip hop video archive. Cuts of Missy Elliot videos seemed represented as dancers popped and locked while more serpentine hips paid homage to the dance breakdown in OG Destiny‘s Child club banger "Bootylicious."
References ran layered and deep throughout the setlist like a Spotify “Daily Mix” cheat sheet. Tjay’s melodies channeled immortal artists like SWV and Zapp on romantic pleas checking for a paramour “in the mood”. Ice Spice even snuck Lauryn Hill’s iconic chorus from “Doo Wop (That Thing)” into her brief a capella moment, nodding to an eternal Queen while proving she could rhyme off-the-dome with a smile.
Moments felt plucked straight from from Y2K memory banks then amplified for a charged crowd. The duo‘s set transforming iconic videos,genres and songs into an interactive hip hop jukebox experience. If their catalogues evoke comforting throwback feels, their live energy aimed straight for right NOW – edgy, urgent, feeding off the hunger of young fans craving that millenial magic reupholstered.
Tutu Much…Or Just Enough Throwback?
When special guest Lil Tjay re-emerged to perform their flirtatious track “Bikini Bottom”, the levels of throwback went into overdrive. Trading his usual streetwear for an extremely questionable red tulle mini skirt, Tjay pirouetted down the runway with tutu floating. As he exchanged smiles with Ice Spice, it became clear we were about to take throwback to the next level.
On their lusty Freak Nasty “Da Dip”-sampling collab, Tjay sings sweetly vulgar pickup lines while Spice demands satisfaction. Together in concert, the artists interpreted these racy lyrics through an innocent lens – by actually rocking tutus.
What followed was an ensemble routine so surreal early 2000‘s videogenic duo like Usher and Mya would‘ve been proud. With perfect plies and chaines whipping, the duo twirled, shimmied and side-stepped alongside their own tutu‘ed backup dancers. As wild as the costumes appeared, both performers managed to sell it – pumping fists and popping chests to the stanky bass groove while keeping their footwork gracefully tethered in satiny toe shoes.
Somehow the vision crystallized as both fugue state fantasy and perfect throwback homage. The fluffed-up tu-tus evoked a Moulin Rouge extravaganza meets adolescent baby ballerina dream sequence. Executing a series of fouettes brought earned screams from an audience about as incredulous as they were turnt up.
The campy tutu turn probably reflected the current zeitgeist with the entire internet currently stanning Natalie Portman‘s unhinged ballerina character from 2010 drama “Black Swan”. Spicy memes imagining protaganist Nina’s fluffy white tutu as a symbol of personal empowerment through losing one’s grip went wildly viral. Maybe the agreed-upon takeway was that in the end, we all share an inner amateur ballerina living her best life – whether angsty ingenue or cocksure Soundcloud rapper.
Beneath The Memes, A Masterful Lyricist
While much has been said about her internet-friendly tracks and bubbly persona, in concert Ice Spice impressed by revealing a musicality transcending viral bait. Her set not only included on-point choreography but also an ability to switch flows between breathy sing-song and fiery fusillades with a natural cadence.
After strutting through bangers in an array of high-fashion looks and rocking cheeky covers, Ice Spice returned solo centerstage to perform her signature smash “Munch (Feelin’ U)”. She nailed the finger licking hook that sparked a viral craze and thousands of TikTok renditions. Never letting the energy lag even with a sparse melody, she rallied the crowd with charismatic adlibs between verses as if spitting hard for her friends at a block party.
In her biggest flex, Spice went straight from “Munch” into a blistering a capella freestyle name checking cultural figures like basketball phenom Steph Curry, politician Ketanji Brown Jackson and rap hustler 50 Cent among her circle of friends. Her rhymes surfed an uncanny momentum that felt totally off-the-dome yet tightly constructed. For a brief moment the sold-out concert venue hushed as all attention zeroed in on this 22-year old sharing raw poetic thoughts like the world‘s most preeminent MC. Her presence and vocal control left zero doubt that behind the memes and cheeky hooks lay the foundation a truly masterful hip hop artist in the making.
In the closing number mashing Annie‘s “It’s A Hard Knock Life” with their track “Boy’s a Liar Pt 2”, Tjay and Spice slid playfully across the stage trading smiling mid-song banter that spoke to their natural creative chemistry. As the piano chords faded, Spice struck a split only to bounce up grinning as Tjay cheered her on. Together their epic throwback medley didn’t just remind us where we come from but gave hope that hip hop’s future burns bright.