Beloved Gen-Z icons Ice Spice and PinkPantheress maximize their joint slay in their first collaboration “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” released on Feb. 3.
The song and accompanying music video encapsulate the laid-back yet upbeat energy that the two artists are known for. The new track is a remix of PinkPantheress’s immensely popular single off her 2022 EP “Take Me Home.” “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” has captured the hearts of listeners around the world as the song has over 18 million streams on Spotify.
The music video features Ice Spice and PinkPantheress vibing to the song in New York City. The low key production gives off a casual and familiar atmosphere, with shots of the two artists and their friends dancing and hanging out.
The music video style is reminiscent of other New York hip-hop musicians like Bobby Shumurda and Fivio Foreign — wherein the artist lip syncs the lyrics surrounded by a group of people that hype them up.
The influence of Ice Spice can be seen by how the music video utilizes the New York landscape in the video, reflecting both her identity as an artist and the urban tone of her music — a recurring theme in her work. Though not as intense as a hip hop music video, “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” reproduces the same positive energy of having fun while filming.
Though “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” is a remix of PinkPantheress’s song, the addition of Ice Spice’s smooth verse elevates this track to a higher level. The Bronx native and absolute legend has been dubbed “the modern day Princess Diana,” and her understanding of pop culture has cultivated a huge fanbase through her charismatic but unserious personality.
Her popularity is most prevalent on Twitter, where countless users praise the rapper for understanding what kind of music her niche demographic craves. As a woman in a primarily male dominated genre of music, Ice Spice uses her creativity and confidence to create a sound like no other — pop drill.
“Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” is a great example of Ice Spice’s versatility as she seamlessly blends her drill style with PinkPatheress’s electronic hyperpop production.
No stranger to internet fame herself, PinkPantheress’s influence on the bedroom pop genre is also something to admire. PinkPantheress first went viral on TikTok in 2021 and hasn’t stopped releasing hit after hit since. Her songs are a mixture of modern sound tinged with ‘90s and early 2000s nostalgia, and there’s just something about PinkPantheress’s sound that sets her apart from other hyperpop artists. Her melodic voice and catchy beats produce tracks that you can’t get out of your head.
The collaboration between these it-girls might be surprising due to how different their genre of music is from each other, but Ice Spice’s nonchalant rap and PinkPantheress’s dreamy bedroom-pop vocals are a match made in heaven. PinkPantheress revealed in an interview with NME that she just “popped in [the DMs]” and asked to meet up with Ice Spice — signaling how interconnected artists are through the use of social media.
The song itself is upbeat, but the lyrics reflect the melancholia of dealing with a boy who doesn’t commit to a relationship. PinkPantheress sings, “It was never even love (it was never even love) / Did you ever want me? / Was I ever good enough?” Ice Spice’s verse has the rapper calling out the titular “Boy” with lyrics like “His girl is a bum to me (grrah) / Like that boy is a cap / Sayin’ he home, but I know where he at, like.”
In the chorus PinkPantheress repeats the essence of the track, that “The-the boy’s a liar.” The lyrics echo feelings of insecurity and self-doubt. “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” is about the universal experience of getting hurt by a person’s insincere actions, but its cheerful beat lightens the overall tone of the track.
The popularity of the song can be measured by the overwhelming amount of support that fans have shown across multiple platforms. According to Twitter account @chartdata, “Boys a Liar Pt. 2” peaked at #2 on the U.S. Spotify chart. Ice Spice and PinkPantheress fans have also formed communities with each other in order to further support the two artists — even crossing into K-pop communities by mentioning the K-pop group NCT 127. In an age of interconnectivity and the globalization of media, the influence that online communities have over trends is sometimes overlooked. However, Ice Spice and PinkPantheress organically gain fame through their genuine interests — causing their respective fanbases to identify with the artists and grow attached to them.
Whether you’re a fan of their music or not, Ice Spice and PinkPantheress encapsulate what it means to be successful young women who are unapologetically themselves so it’s hard to not be rooting for them. With its electric-bubble-pop beat, ethereal vocals and hypnotic rap, “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” ensures that the legacy of Ice Spice and PinkPantheress has just begun.
Lauren Koh is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the winter 2023 quarter. She can be reached at lkoh@uci.edu.
