Ice Spice may be a budding rap star growing towards worldwide fame, but she never forgets her Bronx, NY, roots, where her parents raised her. Spice (her real name is Isis Naija Gaston) was born on Jan. 1, 2000, to her parents, Charina Almanzar and Joseph Gaston – who she’s said are of Dominican and Nigerian descent. She’s the oldest of five siblings. The “Munch” rapper spoke to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in July about the pros and cons of her fame, adding she’s ultimately “grateful” for what it’s provided her family. “At the end of the day, it opened doors for me,” she shared. “It allowed me to help me family, help myself, and change my lifestyle for the better.”
It seems Spice was always destined for rap stardom, or at least fame. Per an interview with British GQ, she jokingly said, “I’ve been a diva since birth . . . Like, my parents tell me that. I’m the only baby to eye-roll at them as a literal infant.”
Spice has shared other insights about her family life as well, revealing to The Cut in early 2023 that she grew up with her parents separated. According to the outlet, she also recently started living on her own, as she previously split her time between her mom’s and dad’s homes. She explained, “I’m just discovering a lot about myself – like I love to be alone.”
It’s clear Spice values her family, especially her parents, who have had a major influence on her career success so far. Read on for everything else we know about them.
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Ice Spice’s Mom
Spice credits her mom, Almanzar, for all the “bad b*tch-isms” she’s adopted. The rapper explained to Billboard in October 2022, “My mom’s a bad b*tch and she raised me to be just like her. You already know Latina girls have that sass. I remember she would always have her nails done so that trickled down to me. She was just always looking so good. I was that kid in the class who had the good-looking mom.”
When it comes to looks, Spice definitely gets them from her mother. The two are practically twins! In fact, Spice’s mom went viral back in August when she posted a since-deleted snippet of herself lip-syncing and bopping along to her daughter’s hit song “Deli.” This prompted social media users to dig up photos of the lookalike mother-daughter duo (and search for Spice’s mom’s social handles).
If rap didn’t become Spice’s claim to fame, she might’ve pursued acting, as she told Teen Vogue she “always” felt drawn to it growing up. She even wanted to attend a high school that offered programs for film or performing arts, but her mom shot the idea down. “I wasn’t allowed to, for some reason,” she explained. “I was mad salty about that for years.”
But Spice’s mom is still one of her biggest cheerleaders and has supported the rapper’s musical talent since she was a kid. Spice told Billboard that her mom would record videos of her singing. “What’s funny is my mom sent me a video the other day – and I don’t even remember this of course, because I was like four,” she said. “But I’m singing in the video. And I’ve never seen this video my whole life, I was shocked by that.”
Ice Spice’s Dad
According to Spice, we have her dad, Gaston, to thank for her rap career. “He definitely inspired me to want to record,” she recalled to Paper Magazine earlier this year. “I remember being in the studio with him. I was a toddler, probably. And I remember little flashes. Of course, not every detail, but small things like that being shown to you at such a young age make an impression on you. Subconsciously, I ended up becoming an artist because I saw my father be one first.”
While not much else about Gaston is known – according to Spice, he’s a “private person” – we do know that he once was an underground rapper. However, Spice told Variety, “That’s not even his lifestyle anymore,” as he works in real estate now. But growing up, he introduced Spice to hometown artists like JAY-Z, 50 Cent, and Jadakiss. She told Paper, “He’s a music lover himself. He’s a true hip-hop head, beyond me, honestly. He knows everything. He’s always educating me on hip-hop and sh*t like that.”
Some of Spice’s early memories of her father involve hip-hop. Speaking to Elle in January, she said he would “freestyle all the time in the house.” She added, “He would always be like, ‘Let me hear something,’ and put me on the spot.”
When it comes to supporting Spice, in her career and beyond, the rapper knows she can count on her dad for anything. When British GQ asked who’s the first person she’d call if she were ever in trouble, Spice said, “My father, he would always show up.”
