Icewear Vezzo

Detroit rapper Icewear Vezzo spits his hardcore rhymes in a staccato style. His earliest work came with Green Guyz, yet as a solo act he has operated since 2012, the same year his debut mixtape The Clarity appeared. Standout releases that followed include the Billboard-charting The Clarity 3: Fully Blown from 2014, the Motown-issued Clarity 6 in 2018, and Rich Off Pints in 2021, along with several tracks that have accumulated millions of streams, among them the Babyface Ray collaborations “Champions” and “The Sit Down.” Late in 2022 he dropped the mixtape Paint the City (Gangsta Grillz) alongside DJ Drama, then kept releasing singles across 2023. In 2024 came the full-length Live from the 6 plus further singles such as the BabyTron collaboration “Possum.”

Born Chivez Smith in Detroit, Michigan, Vezzo maintains strong Midwest ties beyond his hometown, particularly in Minnesota, where siblings and other relatives helped form the rap collective Green Guyz. He launched his own Detroit chapter of the crew with the original members’ approval, yet after attracting local notice he chose to proceed independently. His first mixtape, The Clarity, arrived in 2012, followed in 2013 by the sequel The Clarity 2: Can't Stop the Count, which included “Money Phone.” That breakout track also surfaced on the 2013 project The City Is Mine. The Clarity 3: Fully Blown reached Billboard’s Heatseekers chart in 2014 and featured his Green Guyz associate Webbo. On his birthday that October he issued the Solitaires: Drank God tape. Clarity 4: I Can't Fall Off opened 2015, a year highlighted by the single “Moon Walken,” whose namesake full-length arrived the next year.

A steady stream of projects, among them Price Goin' Up and the initial volume of Robbin Season, continued through the ensuing period. During this span Vezzo maintained a brief association with Motown, the imprint behind the 2018 release Clarity 6. Several of his strongest commercial cuts emerged in the years immediately afterward. “The Sit Down,” featuring fellow Detroiter Babyface Ray, anchored Robbin Season 2 in 2020, while singles such as “Champions” (again with Babyface Ray), “Meg Thee Stallion” (toplined by Babyface Ray), and “Up the Sco” (with Lil Durk) each surpassed one million streams in short order. Capitalizing on that momentum, Vezzo issued Rich Off Pints in 2021, a full-length that showcased Lil Yachty, Trippie Redd, and Dreezy. Rich Off Pints 2 arrived with Future and RMR among its guests. Additional singles surfaced throughout 2022, including “Richer Than My Opps,” “Sick of Y'all,” and “The Commission.” Both Rich Off Pints 3 and Paint the City (Gangsta Grillz) with DJ Drama appeared that same year. Vezzo’s 2023 output featured the singles “Back on the Road,” “Raw ASL,” and “Snowman.” The 2024 album Live from the 6 contained appearances by DaBaby, YTB Fatt, and Chuckie CEO, while later singles included “Cheesecake,” “Free Ghost,” and “Possum” with BabyTron.