Ice Spice and Central Cee find themselves in some messy drama as dating and cheating rumors swirl around the internet. The British rapper’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, Madeline Argy, has come forward with accusations, claiming that the he cheated on her with Ice Spice. She spilled all the tea in a series of TikTok videos. Argy reveals that Cee had previewed a verse for Did It First for her months ago, where he allegedly “snitched on himself” about his unfaithfulness.
According to Argy, Cee dismissed the lyrics as part of an elaborate marketing scheme. The influencer says she fell into his “marketing scheme” trap on a trip to Nigeria, where a couple of photos of them were posted against her wishes as she tried to distance herself from the impending cheating fallout. “I understand that rapper boyfriend has promotional activities to do; I just don’t want to lose the last shred of my dignity,” she lamented. As for Ice Spice’s side of the story, “we not fucking, but he put the tip in,” she raps on the track.
The music video does nothing to clear up the rumours. It is an ode to the nostalgic internet, chat rooms, and AOL. Ice Spice looks hot and is twerking as usual. Central Cee is there but feels more like an accessory. If there’s any truth to any of it, then this is petty to the tenth power. If you ignore the drama, Ice Spice’s verse is about a woman who gets revenge after being cheated on. It could be interpreted as promoting self-confidence and challenging the stereotype of who cheats and how society expects women to react to infidelity. Who are we kidding? The internet is full of misogynoir; she could never be given credit for that. The real star of this release is the drama surrounding it. The track’s raunchy lyrics about cheating and a steamy video prop up a publicity-hungry narrative of a love triangle involving Cee’s influencer ex-girlfriend as the unsuspecting victim.
The drama feels like the epitome of the unserious clout-chasing antics that surround social media and influencers. Is this what rap has devolved into? Manufactured drama to chase streaming numbers that’s light on substance and heavy on shock value? If it is, I don’t want it; get somebody else to do it. The whole ordeal makes Cee seem more like a caricature of a rapper who wants to exploit hip-hop and doesn’t genuinely represent the culture. The artists are dominating the headlines for their messy antics rather than their music. The soap opera drama is the main event now. For those who care about preserving hip-hop’s original essence and mission, it’s disheartening. The gatekeeping may have failed, but the hip-hop community now has the responsibility to support and elevate artists for their art, not the scandal that surrounds them.
In the end, the Did It First saga represents a crossroads at which hip-hop finds itself. Will the genre succumb to the allure of viral sensationalism and sacrifice its cultural roots, or will it course-correct and recommit to the authentic storytelling and artistry that made it a global force?