NEWS
Ice Spice has opened up about who her first celebrity crush was — and it turns out its someone in the music industry who she has since met in person.
On Thursday (December 7), the “Munch” rapper joined Doja Cat — who she is currently touring with — to debut Instagram’s brand new Close Friends Podcast where they debated a plethora of trending topics in addition to their childhood crushes.
“Oh, it’s so embarrassing,” Ice Spice said after Doja probed her about her crush. “I was gonna say it was Usher. Yeah, I saw him at the Met Gala that was the first time I ever seen him. I was like, ‘Oh my God it’s him’ […] Gorgeous man.”
Doja then agreed with Ice’s choice, calling the R&B superstar “beautiful.”
Check out the clip below:
Ice Spice was reminded of her childhood once again earlier this week during an interview with the always-curious Nardwuar who uncovered a photo of a young Isis playing on her school volleyball team.
In the picture, Ice’s trademark curly hair is pulled back into a ponytail and she can be seen rocking a forest green number four jersey while stood next to her teammates.
“Delete this now!” she joked after laying eyes on the photo, before changing her tune. “This is so cute! Shoutout my coach, Barb.”
After Nardwuar asked her about her squad number, she said: “Isn’t that crazy? My number was four. Why I forget that for a second? Damn.”
The veteran journalist/detective then pointed out that she also “loves number eight and a couple of others,” to which she replied: “I do love number eight… how do you… how do you… I mean, you be knowing everything, right?”
As for Usher, he’s now focused on preparing for his Super Bowl Half-time performance after recently wrapping up his headline-generating Las Vegas residency.
During one of his Vegas shows, Victoria Monét gifted Usher a custom Super Bowl LVIII jacket ahead of his anticipated performance – which goes down February 11, 2024, at Allegiant Stadium in Vegas.
“We got one of the last living icons in the building with us right now, and we just want to celebrate you,” Victoria told the crowd. “We want to congratulate you. We are so happy for you! You see the culture in the building! Make some noise for Usher y’all! And as a small token of my appreciation for you and for your legacy, I just want to give you this gift.”
As the crowd cheered and a grateful-looking Usher put the jacket on, she added: “And you are going to have the most watched Super Bowl of all time!”
NEWS
There’s a high probability that Jorja Smith has new music coming this summer. The British singer revealed plans for her What Are the Odds LP on Thursday (July 2), with the album set to arrive on Aug. 21 via FAMM.
Smith reunites with producer P2J — who served as a primary collaborator on her 2023 album Falling or Flying — for the entirety of the project. J Money and P2J will continue to build on the inventive U.K. garage sound Smith has been exploring, alongside a mix of grime and house.
“This album came together really naturally. There was never a big plan; it was just me making music that felt right in the moment,” Smith tells Billboard. “Working with P2J, we started experimenting with different sounds, pulling from U.K. garage, grime and house (funky house, Afro house) and it all grew from there.”
She continues: “The music feels uplifting, but the lyrics can be a bit sad at times. They’re about growing up, love, loss, friendships and figuring things out as I go. I trusted my instincts with this one, and I think you can hear that throughout the record.”
Smith kicked off the album’s rollout in May with the self-assuring “What’s Done Is Done,” and it continues on Thursday (July 2) with a second single, “Alive,” which finds the R&B singer joining forces with Afrobeats pioneer WizKid. The duo basks in the love-drunk euphoria of the honeymoon phase of a bubbling relationship and heads to Paris for the visual.
“Making this with P2J and WizKid felt really easy,” Smith adds of the collab. “We wrote and recorded it together in London. I think we captured that feeling when you’re at the beginning of something with someone and everything feels exciting. I’ve always loved WizKid’s music and the way he’s opened so many doors for Afrobeats around the world, so it feels really special and a big honor to have a song with him.”
What Are the Odds serves as Jorja Smith’s third studio album and contains 12 tracks. Outside of WizKid, the only other feature comes from grime artist Devlin.
When the project lands on Aug. 21, Smith will hit the stage later that night at London’s All Points East, as she’ll be co-headlining the Victoria Park show with Tems. 2026 has already been a busy year for J Money, who served as a musical guest on the debut season of Saturday Night Live UK in April.
The 29-year-old also collaborated with Mobb Deep’s Havoc for a remix of her “Blue Lights” classic and lent “Price of It All” to Amazon MGM Studios’ Bait soundtrack.
Find the What Are the Odds cover art and tracklist below.
What Are the Odds tracklist:
