For some reason, people are giving Ice Spice a hard time for losing weight. The online chatter began shortly after the rapper’s performance at the BET Awards on June 30. The Bronx-bred rapper ran through her single “Think You The S**t (Fart)” during the awards show at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater. After the show, she celebrated the performance with a post on Instagram, and comments about her body began to trickle in.
“I think she looked better bigger,” one person wrote in the caption for a photo of Spice wearing a white lace crop top and shorts set. Another person added that Spice looked like, “She stressing bad or drugging bad.”
In the past two weeks, the conversation surrounding Spice’s apparent weight loss has exploded online. Many fans believe the rapper is using the popular diabetes drug Ozempic in order to shed the pounds. There is no confirmation she has used Ozempic. XXL has reached out to Ice Spice’s team for comment.
The baseless criticism hit a fever pitch on July 16 after a video emerged of Spice walking through Selfridges department store in London. The seemingly innocuous clip prompted a fresh wave of criticism because of how skinny she was. “Ice Spice have [sic] literally lost her hips after using weight loss drug Ozempic,” one fan wrote.
Even Safaree chimed in on the topic, questioning how Spice lost the weight so fast. “How the hell she lose so much weight that quick?” Safaree wrote in a tweet. “Yall ppl always pressuring ppl.”
With so many eyes on Ice Spice’s body, and the hate being thrown her way for getting in shape, the question is: Who cares?
The female form has been a highly dissected topic in hip-hop, and as weight-loss drugs like Ozempic began to become more accessible, the cultural conversation has appeared to pivot from fat-shaming to skinny-shaming. The point is that Ice Spice wanted to change her body and should be celebrated for that rather than attacked, whether or not she used Ozempic or lost weight naturally.
Sexyy Red pushed back on some of the hate directed toward Spice in a comment on Instagram. “Yal act like people can’t be stressed or not eat as much and she still look good so next…,” Sexyy wrote.
The weight loss hopefully isn’t stress-related, which wouldn’t necessarily be a reach since summer festival season can be taxing on the mind and body. As far as it looks though, Ice Spice, 24, is enjoying her new look and has been flaunting her new body all across social media for weeks now. She’s also shared photos of her visibly in the gym more. The rhymer clearly has a new desire for a healthier lifestyle. With her debut album, Y2K!, dropping July 26, she seems to be getting in shape for the release.
Male rappers losing weight don’t get nearly the same kind of critiques. Look at Gunna, who came out of jail in 2022 noticeably slimmer and has kept the weight off ever since with a slim and trim figure. Unfortunately, the brunt of the criticism around weight undoubtedly still falls on women.
This past June, Latto admitted that people calling her “bad body” on the internet caused her to feel insecure. “My body was so tea,” Latto said in an Instagram Live session. “I gained a little weight ’cause I signed my deal when I was 21. When I had just turned 21, and I was just having money and living a whole new life, eating out. Y’all know I’m a foodie. So, now I have the funds to feed this foodie in me. So, I just, I gained a little weight…and everybody on the internet was calling me ‘bad body’ and stuff, so I feel like that played a role. I started to be a little insecure about my body.”
Latto went on to say that people should mind their business.
“Moral of the story: I just think everybody should just stop worrying about everybody,” Latto added. “Natural girls are winning. Surgery girls… BBL girls are winning. Do what works for you and mind your own business. Make your own decisions based on what you want to do, not what other people are telling you to do.”
Whether female rappers are skinny or not, they face relentless criticism from fans and trolls regardless. Even 2024 XXL Freshman Maiya The Don was trolled for her weight in July despite having an amazing freestyle. Not to mention BigXThaPlug’s shirtless Freshman photo caused the rapper to start trending on X, formerly known as Twitter, in June because of comments made about his body. As people continue to flame rappers and other celebrities for their looks, it just goes to show that the beauty standards held by fans should be ignored. If Ice Spice wants to lose or gain weight, it’s her prerogative.
Check out fans’ reactions to Ice Spice’s recent weight loss below.
