In her Rolling Stone cover story last summer, Ice Spice likened her hustle to none other than SpongeBob SquarePants, the cartoon crustacean whose eponymous animated series premiered in 1999, just a few months before Ice Spice was born on New Year’s Day in 2000. “I think I learned a lot from that show,” Ice says. “He never wanted a day off, even when Mr. Krabs would tell him, ‘Go the fuck home.’ He’d be like, ‘No, I need to work.’ ”
That synergy might be what makes her contribution to the soundtrack for The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants such a no-brainer. Last week, Ice Spice premiered the song and music video for “Big Guy,” an impossibly catchy bop infused with whatever potion she uses to make her songs nestle deep inside your subconscious. The track fits seamlessly into the brightly colored SpongeBob universe, and apparently is about a teenage SpongeBob finally being able to ride a roller coaster. Because he’s a big guy.
“SpongeBob, big guy pants, okay,” Ice raps on the chorus. The words have been ping-ponging around my brain for the past four days. With all of the wholesomeness of a Bronx drill Cocomelon, Ice delivers lines cleverly adapted to the cartoon series (with no curse words) in her signature, spellbinding cadence. And while she’s known for her, um, dancing, Ice switches registers here, opting for more family-friendly fun. Honestly, the whole thing is decidedly positive. “Big things ’bout to happen today / I woke up feelin’ a brand new way,” she raps. “Facin’ the world in a brand new way.”
In the lineage of recent children’s song crossovers — think of Pharrell’s inescapable 2013 hit “Happy,” or the briefly viral “Rich Minion” by Yeat – “Big Guy” achieves something that only Ice Spice can. Despite her detractors’ endless commitment to hating, Ice Spice is a fixture of the current era precisely because she embodies the times. Her lyrical efficiency and appreciation for more ambient space on tracks allow the songs to flow seamlessly on feeds burdened by the weight of everything all at once. In endlessly hypnotic Ice Spice songs like “Munch,” “Deli,” and now “Big Guy,” she offers a kind of sonic meditation. SpongeBob. Big guy. Pants. Okay.
It makes sense that, in addition to being featured on the soundtrack, Ice is apparently voice-acting in the new SpongeBob movie; her character, a fish at Bikini Bottom High School, already has an iconic line: “Don’t make me call security,” delivered in a perfectly exaggerated New York accent. Ice has been plotting her return this year, notably squashing her beef with Latto and dropping a string of tracks that showcase her melodic strengths and, like her breakout hit “Munch,” are quietly going from ridicule to repeat listens. She’s started Twitch streaming, too, a move that’ll only further entrench her with the generation currently coming of age.
All of which is to say, if you were praying for Ice Spice’s downfall anytime soon, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.
