Ice Spice says she was nervous to sample Sean Paul’s “Gimme the Light” on newly released track

Ice Spice is bringing back Y2k vibes with her new single, “Gimmie a Light.” The song borrows from Sean Paul‘s 2002 hit “Gimme the Light,” a sample she at one point doubted would get approved.

“I was really nervous because we really wanted to have a very authentic Y2K sample in there, and Sean Paul, he’s legendary. And that song alone, his ‘Gimme the Light,’ is so iconic that I was so nervous to sample it, because I’m like, ‘This isn’t going to get cleared, so what’s the point?’ But thankfully we got it cleared,” she says in a recent interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “Shouts to Sean Paul. He’s so real.”

“Gimmie a Light” was first heard in April during Ice’s debut performance at Coachella, where she was “overwhelmed by the love” from her fans. She says it was “definitely my most fun time on stage ever in my career up until this point.”

The track serves as a preview of what’s to come on her forthcoming album Y2k, named after an era she actually wasn’t born into. Ice Spice says she tapped her mother as inspiration as she worked on the project.

“Thankfully, I had my mom, so growing up I’d see her really embody the Y2K aesthetic in its truest form,” the rapper says, adding she also got some assistance from the internet.

As for why she named the album Y2k, Ice Spice says it came after an “ongoing process of ‘What should we name the album?'” — which ended with the realization that she wanted the name to be short.

Ice’s Y2k album is expected to drop sometime this year.

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