Breaking Down the Net Worth, Age, Careers, and More of Ice Spice vs Nicki Minaj

Who has the higher net worth, better career, and bigger streaming numbers in the debate of Ice Spice vs Nicki Minaj? We take a look.

In the realm of female rappers who have made names for themselves despite an often-unforgiving industry, both Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj are success stories that warrant admiration. While the duo started out on good terms, with Minaj famously inspiring the career trajectory of Ice Spice, recent whisperings within the pop culture sphere speak of a potential rift. With word on the street hinting at a brewing feud, we look at how each rapper fares in the Ice Spice vs Nicki Minaj debate — from who has the bigger net worth to the more prolific career. 

As of late, drama, beef and feuding between rappers have been at an all-time high. Between the rap battle beef of Kendrick Lamar and Drake and the catty tweet-fight of Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj, 2024 has been an entertaining roller coaster ride in the world of hip-hop. In this extraordinary sphere, rappers throw down their gauntlets with beats and rhythms, settling the score with verses sharp enough to cut and kill. And while Minaj has (clearly) proven that drama tends to go where she does, the same can also be said of her former collaborator and friend Ice Spice, with whom she appears to have bad blood. 

So who comes out on top in the battle of the beats between Ice Spice vs Nicki Minaj? We take a look. 

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Ice Spice vs Nicki Minaj: Their careers in a nutshell 

With over a decade’s worth of experience over Ice Spice, Nicki Minaj takes the round with five studio albums, one compilation album, and 136 singles. Around the age of 22, Minaj burst into the hip-hop scene when she signed with Full Force as part of a quartet, Hoodstars, with which she recorded the entrance song for WWE Diva Victoria “Don’t Mess With”. Minaj eventually parted ways with Hoodstars to grow her solo career, beginning by uploading songs to her Myspace profile. Her tenacity paid off; in 2007, she signed with Dirty Money Entertainment under a 180-day contract. 

Over the next three years, Minaj released three mixtakes: Playtime Is Over (2007), Sucka Free (2008), and Beam Me Up Scotty (2009), with the latter enjoying attention across BET and MTV. Minaj was then discovered by Lil Wayne, who is widely regarded as one of the top names in the hip-hop genre — she then signed on to his label, Young Money Entertainment, with whom she would go on to release all five of her studio albums, Pink Friday (2010), Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012), The Pinkprint (2014), Queen (2018), and Pink Friday 2 (2023). 

In contrast, Ice Spice did not make her hip-hop debut until 2021, when she went viral on TikTok after doing the “Buss It” challenge. She met with record producer RiotUSA, the man who would eventually produce her debut song “Bully Freestyle”. Like Minaj, Spice too found alternative methods to promote her music — most notably, she gained traction on SoundCloud with her song “Name of Love”, and eventually gained Instagram fame. By August of 2022, Spice had released another song, “Munch (Feelin’ U)” as part of her debut EP Like..? 

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A post shared by Ice Spice ☆ (@icespice)

The song quickly went viral on Twitter and TikTok, further propelling Ice Spice into the spotlight. In September that same year, she signed a record deal with 10K Projects and Capitol Records, releasing another single, “Bikini Bottom” one month later in October. Owing to the success of her Like..?, Spice snagged a plethora of collaborations, most notably with Taylor Swift for “Karma”, and with Minaj herself for “Princess Diana” and “Barbie World”, which featured prominently in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023).

In January of 2024, Ice Spice released a single titled “Think U the Sh-t (Fart)” as a precursor to her debut studio album, Y2K!, which was released on July 26 2024. 

Who has more awards? 

Considering the length of Minaj’s career thus far, it comes as little surprise that she has also gotten Spice beat in this regard. To date across her career, Minaj has won 9 American Music Awards, 13 BET Awards, 5 Billboard Music Awards, 8 MTV Video Music Awards, 12 MTV Europe Music Awards, and 2 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards among numerous others.

Among these accolades, Minaj has notably received the award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist at the American Music Awards thrice, in 2011, 2012, and 2015. In the following AMAs of 2022 and 2022, Minaj won the award for Favorite Female Artist – Rap/Hip-Hop, marking her popularity in the realm of hip-hop and rap. In 2013, she won Top Rap Artist and Top Streaming Artist at the Billboard Music Awards, and most recently, in 2023, won the award for Top Rap Female Artist. Earlier this year, Minaj also won the People’s Choice Award for The Hip-Hop Artist of 2024.

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A post shared by People’s Choice Country Awards (@peopleschoice)

While Minaj has been nominated for 12 Grammy Awards, which are widely considered the Oscar Awards of the musical world, a win has continued to elude her thus far. 

Notably, the song “Tusa”, on which Minaj worked with Colombian singer-songwriter Karol G for the latter’s album KG0516 (2021), is her most awarded song. Additionally, it is also the world’s 3rd most awarded song. Yet another notable award that Minaj has received is the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2022 MTV VMAs. After Missy Elliott, Minaj is only the second female rapper to have received the honour. 

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A post shared by Ice Spice ☆ (@icespice)

Like Minaj, Ice Spice has not found much success at the Grammy Awards. In 2023, Spice received four Grammy award nominations — Best New Artist, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Karma” with Taylor Swift, and Best Rap Song, plus Best Song Written for Visual Media for “Barbie World” with Minaj and Aqua. While the losses proved disappointing, that she was nominated at all cemented the rising star of her career. 

Notably, Spice’s career has also been peppered by other awards including Best Breakthrough Hip-Hop Artist at the 2023 BET Hip-Hop Awards, Rookie of the Year for the 2023 Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players, Best Rap/Hip-Hop Album for Like..? at the 2024 Gold Derby Music Awards, Best New Hip-Hop Artist at the 2024 iHeart Radio Music Awards, Best New Artist at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, and The New Artist of the Year and The Collaboration Song of the Year for “Barbie World” at the 2023 People’s Choice Awards.  

Who has had more No.1 songs? 

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Across her expansive discography, Nicki Minaj has garnered exactly three No.1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100: “Say So” (2020) with Doja Cat, “Super Freaky Girl” (2022), and “Trollz” (2020), which is credited to both her and 6ix9ine. She has likewise earned 23 Top 10 hits, a nod to how she has proven invaluable in popularising hip-hop in the mainstream media. 

With her career in its relative infancy stages, Ice Spice has garnered only four Top 10 hits, with the highest charting track being “Karma” (2022) with Taylor Swift. In second place is “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2” (2023) with PinkPantheress, which peaked at No.3 on the charts. Interestingly, Spice’s next two charting songs were done in collaboration with Minaj herself: “Princess Diana” (2023) which peaked at No.4 and “Barbie World” (2023) which peaked at seventh place. 

Who has sold more records? 

With over 100 million records sold worldwide, Nicki Minaj is widely considered the best-selling female rapper of all time. Unsurprisingly, all her studio albums have received multi-platinum certifications, with her debut album Pink Friday (2010) receiving 3x Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Tied in second place are her second and third studio albums, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012) and The Pinkprint (2014) with 2x Platinum certifications apiece. Both Queen (2018) and Pink Friday 2 (2023) have likewise received Platinum certifications from the RIAA. 

In comparison, Ice Spice’s debut studio album Y2K! (2024) sold 28,000 units in the United States, an increase from her debut EP Like..? (2023) which sold 15,000 units. However, Spice’s singles appear to have fared better, with 2023’s “In Ha Mood”, “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2”, “Princess Diana”, “Barbie World”, and “Deli” all earning Platinum certification from the RIAA. Additionally, “Munch (Feelin’ U)” (2022) also earned a Gold certification by selling 500,000 units. For context, a Platinum certification is earned by selling 1,000,000 units. 

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The net worth of Ice Spice vs Nicki Minaj 

Having spent two decades in the music industry, it comes as no surprise that Minaj has the superior net worth. As of 2024, the 41-year-old rapper has garnered a significant net worth of USD 150 million, likely resulting from her multi-platinum album sales, tour earnings, and other endeavours. Notably, Minaj has expanded beyond her musical career by appearing in films like Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012), The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019), The Other Woman (2014), and Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016). She also appeared as a judge on season 12 of American Idol (2013). 

In contrast, 24-year-old Ice Spice has garnered a net worth of USD 8 million for having spent three years in the industry. Having established valuable contacts and collaborators in the musical sphere, Spice has laid the groundwork for success, and it is expected that her net worth will grow as her career progresses.

(Main and featured images: Ice Spice/Instagram, Nicki Minaj/Instagram)