Icewear Vezzo

Detroit rapper Icewear Vezzo delivers his hardcore rhymes with staccato finesse. He got his start in Green Guyz, and as a solo artist he has been active since 2012, the year he issued The Clarity, his first mixtape. Among his highlights since then are the Billboard-charting The Clarity 3: Fully Blown (2014), the Motown-issued Clarity 6 (2018), and Rich Off Pints (2021), plus numerous tracks that have been streamed in the millions, such as “Champions” and “The Sit Down,” two of his many collaborations with Babyface Ray. He released the mixtape Paint the City (Gangsta Grillz) with DJ Drama in late 2022 and continued issuing singles throughout 2023.
Born Chivez Smith in Detroit, Michigan, Vezzo has deep connections elsewhere in the Midwest, specifically Minnesota, where some of his close relatives and siblings formed the rap group Green Guyz. Vezzo ran his own Detroit-based version of Green Guyz with the blessing of the original crew, but after gaining some local recognition, the budding MC decided to go it alone. In 2012, he delivered his debut mixtape, The Clarity, and 2013 saw him release a sequel, The Clarity 2: Can’t Stop the Count, featuring “Money Phone.” That track, a breakout single, also appeared on his 2013 set The City Is Mine. The Clarity 3: Fully Blown landed on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart in 2014 and featured Vezzo’s Green Guyz cohort Webbo among its guests. Vezzo also issued the Solitaires: Drank God tape that year on Halloween, his birthday. Clarity 4: I Can’t Fall Off kicked off 2015, a year that saw him hit with the single “Moon Walken.” The full-length Moon Walken followed in 2016.
Assorted projects ranging from Price Goin’ Up to the first volume of Robbin Season continued to flow over the next few years. During this period, Vezzo was briefly affiliated with Motown, the label that released the 2018 set Clarity 6. Some of Vezzo’s most commercially successful tracks arrived during the next several years. “The Sit Down,” featuring fellow Detroiter Babyface Ray, highlighted Robbin Season 2 in 2020, while singles such as “Champions” (featuring Babyface Ray), “Meg Thee Stallion” (headlined by Babyface Ray), and “Up the Sco” (with Lil Durk) all quickly reached over one million streams. Vezzo rode the success well into 2021 with Rich Off Pints, a full-length boasting appearances from Lil Yachty, Trippie Redd, and Dreezy. Rich Off Pints 2 featured Future and RMR, among others. Numerous singles appeared throughout 2022, including “Richer Than My Opps,” “Sick of Y’all,” and “The Commission.” Rich Off Pints 3 and Paint the City (Gangsta Grillz) with DJ Drama both appeared that year. Vezzo’s 2023 singles included “Back on the Road,” “Raw ASL,” and “Snowman.” ~ Andy Kellman & David Jeffries