Icewear Vezzo’s time is now. Hailing from Detroit and even being dubbed “the mayor of Detroit” for his efforts within the community, the rapper has become a staple in the underground rap scene — and he plans on pushing through to the mainstream. With each release, he flexes his ability to spit raw lyrics while telling stories of the reality of his past coming up in the trenches.
Even to this day, Vezzo shows love and posts up in the hood, with a true love and passion for his people. Last year, he teamed up with fellow Detroit native Big Sean for an explosive collab titled “Balance,” showcasing his ability to create bangers that can reach the masses.
AllHipHop caught up with Icewear Vezzo as he was celebrating the release in his city.
AllHipHop: How’s Detroit holding up?
Icewear Vezzo: It’s still crazier than a motherf##ker. Everybody in the city got money, we all burnt out. We fried from life. [laughs]
AllHipHop: What are you most excited for with Robbin Season 2 out now?
Icewear Vezzo: I’m just glad that motherf##ker out! I got my n*gga B Allen on there. He helped me start and everything. He’s one of the people who really believed in me, helped me get this s##t crackin’. He’s on the tope, on the song “Free B Allen.”
AllHipHop: Is he from Detroit?
Icewear Vezzo: Yeah, he’s from the city. He’s in jail though, he got 18 years. He’ll be out though, God be good. It’s been 6.5 years, hopefully he comes home and sees the growth.
AllHipHop: How does this project compare to the first?
Icewear Vezzo: They’re both hard, they’re both lit. They both got the same energy. The way I recorded the s##t, my whole process, everything’s lit. It’s literally the exact same energy. When I recorded “DRANK BABY,” that energy was that energy. That vibe was that vibe. I was in LA, I recorded it all in Hollywood. The Robbin Season vibe, we’re in the hood. I recorded all that s##t in the slums, I was with all my guys. We had the studio 100 deep, everybody smoking weed. I can’t smoke but we’re around vibing. More a trap vibe, in the hood. Brought me back to them days when I didn’t have s##t.
AllHipHop: How did that motivate you, being back there? You come from the trenches, now you’re your own boss, you’re a rapper, you’re an entrepreneur.
Icewear Vezzo: It motivated me a lot because it humbled me. All that s##t always brings me back down to ground zero, to reality. There’s so many motherf##kers who starve and want opportunity, God blessed me with opportunity. It made me hungry again, I’ve got to really make this s##t happen.I be realizing damn, I’m not where I want to be. I have to keep grinding. Can’t never let none of this little s##t get to my head because there’s always a motherf##ker right there ready to accept my blessings. That I don’t appreciate, so I be needing that s##t.
AllHipHop: Where do you want to be?
Icewear Vezzo: I feel like I’m very, very, very slept-on. I know my city’s behind me. I’ve got Ohio behind me, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Kentucky. They’re behind me, they’re not sleep on me. But the rest of the world sleep on me. I’m going to wake everybody up, I’m ready to get there. I can’t speed my process up, because it’s on God’s time.
AllHipHop: You’ve got a song called “f##k Rap,” what were you going through when you recorded that one?
Icewear Vezzo: I was in my feelings about this s##t. I see much stuff that goes on. I see n*ggas doing a lot of s##t that I wouldn’t do, a lot of s##t that me and my n*ggas will violate each other about. N*ggas let s##t slide. At the end of the day, we got a n*gga that ratted, came home and he’s hot. Not on no jealous s##t like “damn, why him? Why’s he blessed?” It’s weird, f##k rap. I don’t belong here. N*ggas painting their fingernails pink and blue and red, n*ggas getting their toes and their nails painted. Moments like that make me think f##k this s##t, I don’t fit in.
AllHipHop: You can rap, rap. Do you feel like real hip-hop is hard to be seen nowadays?
Icewear Vezzo: I don’t make hip-hop, I make gangsta rap. Reality rap, but I do it with lyrics. You’ve got 42 Dugg, he really can rap. Peezy, he really can rap. Rio, he really can rap. It’s n*ggas that’s really rapping. We’re street rappers, we’re gangsta rappers. We come from the slums, we rap about the struggle. That music’s not hard to break through. We’re doing good, we got to keep on pushing.
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AllHipHop: What’s the significance behind the cover art?
Icewear Vezzo: Robbin Season 2 is me jumping out of one bag and coming into another bag, but still being myself. I got one mask on the left, I got another mask on the right, but at the same time I’ve got another mask in the middle. It’s peeling skin, coming out like when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Only difference is, they actually change and I didn’t. Just my mental, but you can’t see my mind. I peeled out, I broke through, but I’m still the same n*gga. I broke out and became something new, but it’s still the same face.
AllHipHop: I know you got Detroit artists on here.
Icewear Vezzo: Yeah, I got Babyface Ray on there, Webbo, Lou Gram, GT, Rio, Timo from Chicago. That’s my lil n*gga right there. I got G Herbo on there. I had a whole lot of industry people on “DRANK BABY,” so I had to do it big. Robbin Season is for the streets, for the slums, for the ghetto. I had to put the ghetto on that motherf##ker.
AllHipHop: What songs mean the most to you and why?
Icewear Vezzo: “Free B Allen” means a lot to me, that means everything. Obviously, “No More Pain” means a lot to me. “The Lick” was actually a true story, just without the killing. I didn’t actually kill nobody, but that was a real robbery that took place when I was young. I can speak on it because I got in trouble for it.
AllHipHop: What does a song like “No More Pain” mean during these current times?
Icewear Vezzo: We needed that, it was the hard truth. Everything I spoke was facts. I don’t say nothing unless I know what I’m talking about. That was well-needed. You’ve got songs like “Letter to the Rap Game,” another one of them moments where I’m feeling man, f##k this s##t. I’ve been grinding for so f##king long, and I haven’t exceeded where I know I could be. I be slept on. I’m really good with this s##t, I’m really hard. I really be rapping, I really put ont for my city. I’m really a real n*gga, I really stand up. N*ggas don’t play with me, motherf##kers ain’t taking nothing from me. Not that I’m being tough, I make my city look good. I be getting overlooked a lot of times. I rapped that song like I don’t care about this s##t. I’ve had it, I’m done. I’m out.
AllHipHop: How’re your businesses doing?
Icewear Vezzo: Everything’s doing good, everything’s well. I’m mainly focused on my artists right now. Baby Narco is about to blow the f##k up. Richtown Butter, he’s lit. My wife’s about to open up a juice bar called Fresh and Press in Royal Oak, Michigan. That’s going to be big, follow her at @ 4everkmarie. <https://www.instagram.com/4everkmarie/>
AllHipHop: Someone commented we need another song with you and G Herbo.
Icewear Vezzo: Man, that’s my buddy right there. I can’t wait, me and G Herbo be talking crazy together. [laughs] That’s my n*gga right there. Me and Trippie Redd just did a song, that b-tch fire. That motherf##ker so hard. Me and Doe Boy from Cleveland did some s##t, that motherf##ker hard. Me and Bankroll Freddie got some s##t coming. I’ve been tapping in, haven’t been trying to overdo the major artist features. They all f##k with me, they all be offering up verses, but I’m so for the streets. I’m for the slums. We got it right now, the hood’s winning. Motherf##kers are listening, gangsta rap is coming back.
AllHipHop: I know Trippie’s more on his singing tip, so what kind of record can we expect from you guys?
Icewear Vezzo: Trip be talking spicy on that. What motherf##kers don’t know is Trippie’s a real n*gga, and he’s talented. He be talking crazy on something. That s##t was regular, he felt like one of the guys. He’s from Columbus, I’ve been tearing up Columbus for 2 years. It was all love.
AllHipHop: Anything else you’d like to let us know about the project?
Icewear Vezzo: If y’all don’t got my project, get it right now. Robbin Season 2 available everywhere. Go buy that motherf##ker, go get it free, go bootleg that motherf##ker, I don’t care how you get it. I dropped a new video too for “f##k Rap,” in my bio right now. I shot that motherf##ker today, we edited and dropped it today. We shot the video at 3pm, we dropped it at 7pm. No cap, I’ve got the same outfit on.