{"id":74629,"date":"2021-03-11T15:43:27","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T14:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=74629"},"modified":"2021-03-11T18:54:52","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T17:54:52","slug":"ice-prince-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/ice-prince-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Ice Prince talks \u201cKolo\u201d, career, and the new afro"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ice Prince\u2019s hiatus is officially over, inaugurating his return with his new single \u201cKolo\u201d featuring Oxlade and breaking down the past, present, and future of music with PAM.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Ice Prince, one of Nigeria\u2019s premier rappers with over 10 years in the game, teams up with up-and-coming afropop star <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/oxlade\/\">Oxlade<\/a> for an intoxicating collaboration on \u201cKolo\u201d.&nbsp;\u201cKolo\u201d, meaning crazy or mad in Nigerian slang, is a smoothed out jam about a girl that has Ice Prince head over heels, professing his love through verse and complemented by Oxlade\u2019s unmistakable falsetto. The track is also accompanied by a seductive music video from Nigeria\u2019s own UAX production.&nbsp;Ice Prince, who has been in and out of the lab since his last album <em>Jos to the Worl<\/em>d in 2016, is announcing his discographic return with a sound that\u2019s ready to turn heads. Not that the two-time BET award winner and Major Lazer, French Montana, and Jeremih collaborator has anything to prove. It feels nonetheless that Ice Prince is turning a new leaf. He recently announced signing to 300 Entertainment, the American label boasting acts from Young Thug to Megan Thee Stallion, making him the first African artist on the roster, and has been hinting at an album drop on social media. However, for a rapper who broke onto the scene with his 2010 single \u201cOleku\u201d, one of Nigeria\u2019s most remixed tracks of all-time and winner of innumerable award including the 2011 Headies\u2019 \u201cSong of the Year\u201d, few have had the privilege to interview and dive into the mind of Nigeria\u2019s rap patron. To hear more about his newest contagious single, musical legacy, and projects on the horizon, we broke bread with Ice Prince via a long distance video call.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We found Ice Prince happy and fresh, rocking his 300 Entertainment hoody, in a car full of friends and fam, begrudging a dodgy wifi connection, and with an invitingly well-spoken sense of humor about all things music.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Ice Prince - KOLO (feat. Oxlade) [Official Video]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ts19iSWEvds?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption> Ice Prince &#8211; KOLO (feat. Oxlade)  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where did the name Ice Prince come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My name came from when I was in secondary school. I went to school one day wearing this big DMX rough rider t-shirt with the ice on it. When I was young I was so hip-hop I wanted to dress like DMX everyday. One day there was a freshman in my class who didn\u2019t know what to call me so he was like \u201cIce\u201d, and that kinda stuck. The Prince came from my first name Panshak and so it was \u201cIce P\u201d for a while. It eventually changed to \u201cPrince\u201d on its own, I can\u2019t really tell you how it became \u201cIce Prince\u201d. I\u2019ve been Ice since I\u2019ve been a youngin\u2019 in high school.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I noticed some of your earlier work nods to that era of hip-hop. But it\u2019s changed a lot going through trap on C.O.L.D and now a bit of afropop with \u201cKolo\u201d. How do you see those changes in your sound?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I like to see myself as a real student of the game. I studied the game from even before I was born. Sometimes I like to go back even to Sugarhill Gang\u2026 I can\u2019t tell you I see the future or I listen to music from the future but I like to keep myself in the past and present and what\u2019s to come. For me, what\u2019s to come is what a lot of the young artists around me, a lot of the 20-22-23 year olds coming up in the game, are doing. That\u2019s the future right there. So, like you said, for the last project C.O.L.D, I worked with a lot of young artists because I feel like that\u2019s the best way for me to keep myself fresh and aware and current. You can\u2019t stick to doing the same thing over and over again. Yes, on my earlier works I was sounding like Nas or Jay Z or DMX or Ja Rule, but hey it wouldn\u2019t be bad now to get on some Trippie Redd type beat. That\u2019s how I keep myself going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Well, Oxlade is definitely someone who\u2019s hype right now. How did you two link up?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, a big shout out to Oxlade. I\u2019m a huge fan of his music, he\u2019s an amazing artist. I know so many people that are like cult followers of Oxlade right now. I got introduced to Oxlade by my manager actually. It was right that we give the people something because we share a good vibe together and we wanted to put that on wax. That\u2019s why we came together on this one.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>It definitely works! There\u2019s this sound that\u2019s getting really hot internationally coming out of Nigeria right now and it\u2019s fire to see hip-hop taking a bite out of it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t even see it as something that is brand new. It\u2019s something that we&#8217;ve been working on for a long time in Nigeria in Africa so many people have invested their talents and their own parts to the game to take you to where it\u2019s at right now. We can\u2019t measure the music that we make now without talking about the great <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/fela-kuti\/\">Fela<\/a>, without talking about people like Bright Chimezie, down to generations like 2Face, Daddy Showkey, and P-Square to what it is right now. It\u2019s been a long journey for the whole African music for the whole Nigerian music. It\u2019s vibes that we\u2019ve been creating for years and we\u2019re just grateful that the world is actually just starting to listen to us now. There\u2019s starting to be a little more attention for us. And with time you realise, we have much more to offer. The world hasn\u2019t even heard 10% of what afrobeats has to offer yet.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>It\u2019s funny, you talk about those legacy artists because even on a more short-term legacy point of view you\u2019ve worked with people like WizKid and Burna Boy who have paved the way for newcomers like Oxlade. Do you see a passing of the baton between these generations of artists?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any passing of the baton situation here. It\u2019s not a marathon. It\u2019s not a race. I feel like <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/wizkid\/\">WizKid<\/a> is gonna be here forever regardless of whatever brand new artists come or not. I feel like <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/burna-boy\/\">Burna Boy<\/a> is gonna be here forever. Ice Prince is gonna be here forever. P-Square is gonna be here forever. Two Face is gonna be here forever. What has been created can never be destroyed, what is here is always gonna be forever. So there\u2019s no passing of the baton or no somebody getting out of the game to leave a place for somebody else. You still have people like Shina Peters performing, some of the greats from even before we were born are out here performing out here making music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Perhaps that was a bad metaphor&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, if I get you from a different perspective, in terms of new artists coming up in the game, yes, there\u2019s a whole lot of new and exciting artists out there right now. I could mention 10 new artists right now that are really ready to take over the whole continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1515\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01d047a6-ice-prince-2-1010x1515.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74685\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01d047a6-ice-prince-2-1010x1515.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01d047a6-ice-prince-2-759x1139.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01d047a6-ice-prince-2-661x992.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01d047a6-ice-prince-2-465x698.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01d047a6-ice-prince-2-375x563.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01d047a6-ice-prince-2.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>\u00a9 Bolaji Odukoya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Well speaking of what\u2019s on the horizon for you and your career, you recently signed to 300 Entertainment after working as VP for Chocolate City. What\u2019s that transition like?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, Chocolate City was the first record label that ever put me on. That\u2019s my original family right there. We just got to a point where we needed to bring up new artists, because for a while it was just me Jesse Jacks, Bryan was always on the road and we got to a point where we needed to sign people like Coca, like Dice Hills, like <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/ckay\/\">CKay<\/a> like Mubi\u2026 So we had to step to an exec position to be spoon fed. You know an artist label situation is, the label is literally spoon feeding the artist. I would like to see where we grew to a point where we wouldn\u2019t be spoon fed anymore, so we took the executive positions to run the label and bring up the artists. But also you know, as you grow as a person you want to be able to do your own thing and build your own life. I can\u2019t be knocking on Chocolate City&#8217;s door everyday and be like \u201cI need to pay for this video or I need to pay for that and that\u201d. So I set-up my own company called Super Cool Cats, which I got a full endorsement from Chocolate City for, and I started running my own company until I got in talks with 300. You know I\u2018m proud to tell you that I\u2019m 100% that my music is 300% fresh. It\u2019s an honour to be the first African artist on that platform. The plans that we have, man\u2026 We have amazing plans for people this year, it\u2019s gonna be a lot of Ice Prince in your face.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So what\u2019s on the horizon? Do you have some singles ready, an album coming soon?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have two projects ready to come out right now. One is called <em>Fire and Ice<\/em> it\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been talking about on my social media and stuff that\u2019s my next album. <em>Kind Zamani the 3rd<\/em>, Zamani is my father\u2019s name and it\u2019s the title that I have in my village actually, so that will be my fourth studio album that I have coming soon. <em>Fire and Ice<\/em> album should be the next project after the song with Oxlade. Yeah man, I\u2019m excited about that.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I\u2019m excited too. You know it\u2019s been 10 years since \u201cEverybody Loves Ice Prince\u201d and you\u2019ve won all these awards and accolades, I\u2019m wondering where\u2019s your head at with this next project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not enough! That\u2019s where my head\u2019s at, it\u2019s not enough. Man I haven\u2019t even started bro! I have mentors that I look up to like Jay Z, I look up to people like Drake. I look up to people that have done certain things in their careers like, \u201cwoah how does he do that?\u201d I\u2019m striving to achieve that as well in my lifetime. Apart from mentors in America and stuff even in my country there\u2019s some people, we\u2019re talking about Fela being in the hall of fame right now and these kind of aspirations as a human being as a person that I want to have. I want to leave this earth with a legacy that is unforgettable, I want to write my name in the sands of time using music because really that\u2019s all I know how to do, I only know how to make music.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is there anything you can tell us about the vibe of this next album?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yo, so I was told not to tell you too many details about the album yet! So I don\u2019t wanna go on messing anything up. I\u2019ll say it\u2019s an album that has a couple features, has some of the best producers on the continent. I\u2019ve been in the studio with some of my old dogs like Jesse Jacks from \u201cOleku\u201d.&nbsp;Like I said man, it\u2019s been four years of thoughts, it\u2019s been four years of writing. My last album came out in 2016 so it\u2019s literally been four to five years of writing this piece together. I can\u2019t wait for the people to hear it. A couple international features as well but I can\u2019t say because I don\u2019t wanna label to call me like, \u201cIce what the fuck?\u201d There\u2019s a lot of surprises on the album, some of the biggest names in the world I have featured on the next project. Look forward to that. I\u2019m coming from a whole different angle. I\u2019m about to teach the game a whole new thing that I feel is necessary. The game needs Ice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Any last thoughts for our readers?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me talk about the song a little bit! Do you know what Kolo means? Kolo means you go crazy. You know I want to emphasise a bit more on this record, I want people to get this record. Cast a vibe. This is the new afro right here. This is the new banger!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out Ice Prince\u2019s latest single \u201cKolo\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/iceprince.ffm.to\/kolo\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1515\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/11f3cf0a-ice-prince-4-1010x1515.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74686\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/11f3cf0a-ice-prince-4-1010x1515.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/11f3cf0a-ice-prince-4-759x1139.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/11f3cf0a-ice-prince-4-661x992.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/11f3cf0a-ice-prince-4-465x698.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/11f3cf0a-ice-prince-4-375x563.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/11f3cf0a-ice-prince-4.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>\u00a9 Bolaji Odukoya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ice Prince\u2019s hiatus is officially over, inaugurating his return with new single \u201cKolo\u201d feat. Oxlade and breaking down the past, present, and future with PAM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":74637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7833,7835],"tags":[701,34917,3683],"location":[8172],"yst_prominent_words":[8403,34908,34909,34907,34904,34913,34911,18366,34905,8447,34906,34903,34902,34912,8617,8402,8435,20928,9006,34910],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74629"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74629"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=74629"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=74629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}