The clip, which has racked up close to seven million views on YouTube, shows her posing outside The Village Bakery, and walking down Orford Road while wearing a signature pink tracksuit, reports Marco Marcelline
The American rapper Ice Spice has sparked surprise by choosing to shoot her latest music video ‘Did It First’ in Walthamstow Village.
The clip, which has racked up close to seven million views on YouTube since Friday (12th July), shows her posing outside The Village Bakery, and walking down Orford Road while wearing a signature pink tracksuit.
The video is also interspersed with clips of Spice and drill artist Central Cee at a party inside a Walthamstow property the Echo understands was borrowed for the shoot.
In the song, both Spice and Cee rap about cheating on their partners, with Spice justifying her actions because her ex “did it first”.
Sam Davies, who runs the bakery said the four-hour shoot, which happened a fortnight ago, was a surprise.
Sam says she was randomly approached by Ice Spice and her team not long after she had opened for the day.
Initially thinking Spice was just a customer, Sam says she asked her what she wanted to buy from the bakery. “[Ice Spice] then asked me if I knew any rappers and I said Snoop Dogg and Eminem as they’re around my age.”
It was then made clear that Ice Spice’s team were asking businesses on Orford Road if they’d be prepared to shut for the day so they could shoot a video.
After Sam agreed, she was made to sign a non-disclosure-agreement form which prevented her from telling anyone about the video ahead of its release.
During the shoot, the Bronx-born and raised rapper bought a toasted croissant with jam and butter, while her team asked for ten yoghurt pots with fruit.
Bakery owner Sam says she wasn’t at all fazed by Spice’s fame: “People are just people whether they’re famous or not.”
She adds that she was far from being a demanding diva – in fact, Sam describes the 24-year-old Grammy nominee as “down-to-earth” and “lovely”.
Directly across the street at the Queens Arms pub, landlord Lawrence Younger says her team asked if they could use the pub’s outdoor seating area to store equipment during the shoot. He agreed as the pub was not yet open for the day.
Lawrence told the Echo that the shoot was not the first he had come across a film set on Orford Road, and added: “I’m not into rap but she seemed like a nice-looking girl.”
Ice Spice also reportedly borrowed hair straighteners from hairdressers Lotolie during the shoot.
Not everyone had a positive experience dealing with the rappers’ team however. Gabi Anisko who runs Peeld, a Hawaiian restaurant next door to the Village Bakery, said a “rude” security guard repeatedly asked if customers could vacate the outdoor tables.
“Our customers agreed to move but they said they’d only need the tables empty for ten minutes but they ended up taking a lot longer. The security also told us we couldn’t stand and watch the shoot from our restaurant – which we own, by the way!”
Ice Spice gained viral status on TikTok in late 2022 with the release of ‘Munch (Feelin U)’, and a subsequent 2023 hit collaboration with UK singer PinkPantheress on ‘Boy’s a Liar (Pt.2)’ has gained 860 million streams on Spotify.
Aside from releasing an EP, the New York rapper has collaborated twice with Nicki Minaj, including on the Barbie film soundtrack, and with Taylor Swift.
She is currently on tour across Europe in support of her upcoming debut album Y2K!, out on 26th July. Last weekend she performed with Central Cee at Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park.
Cee is widely expected to drop his debut album late this year. His collaboration with Ice Spice follows his runaway success last year on ‘Sprinter’ with the rapper Dave, and his top-ten single ‘Doja’ in 2022.
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