David LaChapelle

Yesterday, Ice Spice announced the release date of her debut album, Y2K, after months of anticipation. At the same time, she also shared the album’s cover artwork, but while she was clearly very proud of it, folks on social media were, unsurprisingly, less than impressed.

One element fans took note of was the placement of the album’s title on the photo, which was shot by David LaChappelle. Some fans even took it upon themselves to redesign the cover themselves, hoping to improve on its perceived flaws.

Today, Ice Spice herself responded to the criticism, posting a Polaroid photo of herself and LaChappelle on X (RIP, Twitter.com) with a thankful caption and a cryptic message. “David LaChapelle is #Y2K!” she wrote. “soooo sweet + legendary he didn’t even charge me cus he f*cks wit a real b*tchthank U for all the incredible art you’ve put out through the years this cover means everything to me & yes Y2K was placed on the trash can on purpose can u guess why?”

If the placement of the album title is indeed meant to be a metaphor for moving on from the nostalgia for years past, it certainly hasn’t translated in Ice’s music. A proponent of so-called “sample drill,” both her look and her sound draw heavily from the years immediately after her birth (she was born on New Year’s Day, 2000, if you can believe it). Her most recent single, “Gimmie A Light,” interpolates a sample from Sean Paul’s 2002 hit “Gimmie The Light,” while 2023’s “Barbie World” tapped Aqua’s “Barbie Girl,” a staple of turn-of-the-millennium Europop.