Ice Spice Ethnicity, Race & Heritage: Is She Mixed Race? Full Background Explained

Quick answer: Yes, Ice Spice is mixed race and biracial — her father Joseph Gaston is Black American with Nigerian roots, and her mother Charina Almanzar is Dominican (Afro-Latina). Born Isis Naija Gaston in the Bronx in 2000, she proudly identifies as Nigerian and Dominican — a combination that has made her one of the most talked-about young artists of her generation.

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Is Ice Spice Mixed Race? Is She Biracial?

Yes — Ice Spice is mixed race and biracial. Her father, Joseph Gaston, is Black American with West African (primarily Nigerian) roots. Her mother, Charina Almanzar, is Dominican — of Afro-Latina heritage, which itself typically blends African, Spanish, and Taíno Indigenous ancestry. The combination makes Ice Spice a Black and Latina young woman with roots spanning Nigeria, the Dominican Republic, West Africa, and the Caribbean.

Ice Spice's appearance — light brown skin tone, bright auburn-orange curly hair, and features that read as both Afro and Latina — perfectly reflects her biracial background. She has been publicly embraced as a symbol of Afro-Latina beauty and biracial identity, particularly among fans who have recognized facial features typical of West African (specifically Igbo, Nigerian) descent alongside Caribbean Latina characteristics.

So to answer the most-searched questions directly: Ice Spice's race is Black/Afro-Latina. Her background is Nigerian-American on her father's side and Dominican on her mother's side. Her heritage spans West Africa, the Caribbean, and the South Bronx. Yes — she is biracial, proudly so, and has spoken publicly about both aspects of her heritage. The "Naija" in her real middle name — Isis Naija Gaston — is itself a nod to Nigeria, a fact her father has confirmed.

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What Is Ice Spice's Ethnicity?

Ice Spice's ethnicity is a blend of Black American-Nigerian and Dominican heritage that gives her one of the most distinctive backgrounds in contemporary hip-hop. While many fans initially assumed she was simply African American or Latina, the truth is more layered: she is the product of a Bronx-raised African American father with West African roots and a Dominican mother from the same neighborhood.

Her father, Joseph Gaston — himself an underground rapper — is Black American with documented Nigerian ancestry. An ancestry DNA test reportedly showed he is approximately 30% Nigerian, with additional West African heritage tracing back to Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali, and Cameroon, plus a small amount of Taíno Indigenous lineage. Her mother Charina Almanzar is Dominican, meaning her background blends West African (through the African diaspora in the Caribbean), Spanish colonial, and Taíno Indigenous roots — the typical genetic profile of Afro-Dominican heritage.

The name Isis — an Egyptian goddess — combined with Naija (a colloquial term for Nigeria) — speaks volumes about how intentional her parents were in stamping her African heritage into her very identity from birth.

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Father's Side: Black American and Nigerian Roots

Ice Spice's father, Joseph Gaston, is a Black American man from the Bronx with deep West African ancestry. He is an underground rapper himself, and his influence on Ice Spice's musical journey has been profound and well-documented. Joseph introduced young Isis to hip-hop legends like Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and Wu-Tang Clan, helping form her taste and artistic sensibility long before she picked up a microphone.

Joseph Gaston's Nigerian roots came into sharp public focus in 2023 when a competing rapper, Cleotrapa, claimed Ice Spice had fabricated her Hispanic background. Joseph responded publicly, sharing that he had taken an ancestry DNA test that revealed approximately 30% Nigerian ancestry, along with roots in Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali, Cameroon, and a Taíno heritage component. The paternal grandfather and grandmother of Ice Spice are not widely documented by name, but Joseph's Black American and West African roots are consistent with the broader African American genealogical experience — roots filtered through the Middle Passage from Nigeria, Ghana, and neighboring nations.

Joseph and Charina separated when Ice Spice was two years old, but both have remained present figures in her life. Joseph lived close enough on Davidson Avenue in the Bronx that Ice Spice described her dad's side and her mom's side as being on the same street, just in different houses.

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Mother's Side: Dominican Heritage

Ice Spice's mother, Charina Almanzar, is Dominican — born in the Dominican Republic or to Dominican parents, and raised in the Bronx. The Dominican Republic's population is predominantly Afro-Dominican, meaning most Dominicans carry a blend of West African ancestry (brought through the Atlantic slave trade), Spanish colonial heritage, and Taíno Indigenous roots.

Charina was just 17 years old when she gave birth to Ice Spice, having met Joseph Gaston at a McDonald's in New York. Despite their separation when Ice Spice was very young, Charina remained a central figure in her daughter's upbringing. Charina Almanzar currently resides in New Jersey.

Charina's parents — Ice Spice's maternal grandparents — are of Dominican origin and were described by Ice Spice as having lived just down the block from her father's family on Davidson Avenue in the Bronx. The proximity of both sides of her family in that Bronx neighborhood gave Ice Spice an unusually intact connection to both her Nigerian-American father's world and her Dominican mother's world.

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Grandparents: A Complete Picture

Paternal Grandfather — [Name not publicly documented]: Black American, likely of West African (primarily Nigerian/West African) descent, consistent with Joseph Gaston's DNA results showing Nigerian, Ghanaian, Ivorian, Senegalese, Malian, and Cameroonian ancestry.

Paternal Grandmother — [Name not publicly documented]: Black American, from the Bronx area, part of the African American community with deep West African roots transmitted through generations.

Maternal Grandfather — [Name not publicly documented]: Dominican, of Afro-Dominican heritage, consistent with the majority Afro-Dominican population that blends West African, Spanish, and Taíno Indigenous ancestry.

Maternal Grandmother — [Name not publicly documented]: Dominican, described by Ice Spice as having lived on the same street as her paternal grandparents in the Bronx. Her Afro-Dominican background is the principal Caribbean thread in Ice Spice's heritage.

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DNA & Genetic Ancestry

While Ice Spice has not personally published DNA ancestry test results, her father Joseph Gaston took an ancestry test in 2023 after public questions arose about her ethnic background. The results reportedly showed:

• ~30% Nigerian
• West African roots including Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali, and Cameroon
• Small Taíno Indigenous component

Combined with her mother's Dominican heritage — which itself typically involves a significant West African component (the Dominican Republic's population is estimated to be 70–90% of African descent) alongside Spanish and Taíno Indigenous ancestry — Ice Spice's genetic makeup is a genuinely layered African and Caribbean diaspora portrait.

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Ice Spice in Her Own Words on Race & Identity

Ice Spice confirmed her heritage directly on social media in November 2022, when a Twitter user commented that she looked "Igbo" (a major ethnic group from southeastern Nigeria). Her response was characteristically direct and authentic:

"im Nigerian but idk which tribe maybe u right!" — Ice Spice (@icespice), Twitter/X, November 2022.

She has also spoken plainly about both sides of her identity in interviews. When asked about her background, she explained: "My dad is Black, he's from the Bronx, and my mom is Dominican, she's from the Bronx" — framing her dual heritage in terms of the Bronx neighborhood that nurtured both sides equally. The Bronx, one of the most culturally diverse urban landscapes in the world, is as much a part of Ice Spice's identity as her Nigerian-Dominican blood.

▶ Watch on YouTube →

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Is Ice Spice Alive?

Yes, Ice Spice is alive and thriving. Born January 1, 2000, she is currently 26 years old. Since breaking through with "Munch (Feelin' U)" in 2022, she has become one of the biggest names in hip-hop, collaborating with Taylor Swift ("Karma"), Nicki Minaj ("Princess Diana," "Barbie World"), and PinkPantheress ("Boy's a Liar Pt. 2"). In 2023, she became the first artist in history to land four Hot 100 top-10 singles in a single year.

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Visual Family Tree

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Sources

Ethnicity & Heritage

• Wikipedia — Ice Spice
• Blavity — Ice Spice Reveals She's Nigerian and Dominican
• Sportskeeda — What is Ice Spice's real name? Ethnicity explored
• Yahoo News — Ice Spice Reveals She's Nigerian And Dominican

Parents

• Tuko.co.ke — Ice Spice's parents: Meet her rapper father and identical mom
• Bored Panda — Ice Spice Parents: Meet the Bronx Duo
• Sportskeeda — Who is Joseph Gaston? Ice Spice's father and Nigerian ancestry test

Biography