The record will arrive on July 26
The official countdown to the release of Ice Spice‘s debut album starts now. On Tuesday, the rapper revealed the New York-inspired artwork for the highly-anticipated record, Y2K, set for release on July 26.
In the artwork, Ice Spice poses against a wall next to a subway sign that spells out I-C-E as available train lines at the station. On her other side, an overflowing trash can has the Y2K title spray-painted across it in neon pinks and greens. And in the corner near the train station rests a discarded IceSpiceCard, her play on a MetroCard.
Last month, Ice Spice MetroCards were made available at four subway stations in New York, including two in the rapper’s Fordham Road neighborhood. The release was limited to 50,000 copies across the city.
Last year, Ice Spice told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe that her approach to making music is intrinsically connected to her upbringing in the Bronx. She poured that influence into her latest single, “Gimme a Light,” which samples Sean Paul’s early 2000s hit “Gimme the Light.” The rapper spoke about being inspired by the way retailers in popular shopping areas would use upbeat, popular music to attract customers. “The second I stop having fun while recording, I need to just close the session and come back to it later,” she said. “I don’t really think, ‘How am I going to get people to come into my store?’ consciously, but I probably do without even realizing it.”
Ice Spice first premiered “Gimme a Light” during her performance at Coachella in April. Her set also featured “Munch (Feelin’ U),” “Princess Diana,” “Gangsta Boo,” and “No Clarity,” plus the PinkPantheress collaboration “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2″ and her recent single “Think U the Shit (Fart).”