Meet Panshak Zamani (born 30 October 1986), better known by his stage name Ice Prince, is a Nigerian hip hop recording artist and actor. He rose to fame after releasing "Oleku", one of Nigeria's most remixed songs of all time. He won the 2009 Hennessy Artistry Club Tour. His achievements include one BET Award, one Ghana Music Award, three The Headies Awards from 12 nominations, two Nigeria Entertainment Awards from 6 nominations, and twoChannel O Music Video Awards from 7 nominations. Ice Prince is currently signed to Chocolate City. His debut studio album, Everybody Loves Ice Prince, was released in 2011. It was supported by the singles "Oleku", "Superstar", "Juju", and "Magician". In 2013, Ice Prince released Fire of Zamani, his second studio album. The album contained the singles "Aboki", "More", "Gimme Dat", and "I Swear".
Early life and music career
Ice Prince was born Panshak Henri Zamani in the city of Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. At age two, he moved with his family to the mining city of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. While residing in Jos, he attended St. Murumba College, the same school that produced P-Square, footballer John Obi Mikel, and the Governor of Bauchi State Isa Yuguda, among others. He also attended the Science Tutorial College in Jos.
In 1998, he began writing rap songs and started performing them at social events held at his school. It was not until 2001 that he began going to studios to record. In 2002, he got together with a couple of friends and formed a group called the "Ecomog Squad". They had few performances as a group and split a year later. In 2004, he connected with M.I, Jesse Jagz, Ruby, Lindsey, Eve, Taz, and together they became what is now known today as the "Loopy Crew". During an interview with Adeola Adeyemo, Ice Prince was asked to summarise his story. He said "I started out in Jos in a group called ECOMOG squad. We used to rap and sing together. The group split up after a few years and after that, I joined the choir in my church and started singing Tenor. That was about the time MI moved back to Nigeria and we became friends, we became family, we started living together, started making music together. I had a song that made it to Number 1 in Jos, that was when I started getting more attention. Then I got admitted into University of Jos to study Zoology but then I couldn't really continue because of some financial constraint at the time."[8] Ice Prince also opened up about the passing of his parents and the challenges he faced early on. He said:
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In 2004, Ice Prince released his debut single "Extraordinary". "Rewind", another single he released, received radio airplay in Lagos and Abuja. It charted on Rhythm Fm's "Top 7 chart", Notjustok's "Hype", Unilag FM, Zain Central Station, Inspiration Fm, Top FM’s "Top of the Morning", Cosmo FM's "Top Hits", Africa Connect Chat Show, and Kiss' "Top 20 Africa". Moreover, it charted at number 1 on Cool FM and Vision FM in Abuja.
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Chocolate City record contract
During the aforementioned interview, Ice Prince shed some light on his record deal with Chocolate City, saying: "My record deal with Chocolate City came off of my affiliation with MI and Jesse Jagz. We are pretty much brothers, we’ve always lived together, always been together. But then Chocolate City signed MI first. It was like they did it in order of our age. Then they signed Jesse Jagz. Jesse was obviously more ready than I was at that time. Then they saw that I was getting ready as well and they signed me too.
2009: Hennessy Artiste
In 2009, Ice Prince participated in the Hennessy Artistry competition, a competition organised by the Hennessy brand which supports urban and contemporary music. The competition featured the likes of Bez, Mo'cheddah, Blaise, and Jimmy Flames; Ice Prince came out 1st with his lead single "Badman" at the end of the competition.
2010–2011: Everybody Loves Ice Prince (E.L.I), "Oleku", and collaborations
Main article: Everybody Loves Ice Prince
During the aforementioned interview, Ice Prince opened up about why he chose to name his debut album, Everybody Loves Ice Prince. He said "What made me give my album that name was when I lost my Mum, really. There was so much love, so much care from all around the world. People really showed me love and it was after that incident that I came back to record my album and I thought what better name to call my album than Everybody Loves Ice Prince because I was shown love."Oleku", Ice Prince's first single off his debut album was met with great reception throughout Nigeria. The song was released under Chocolate City. Ice Prince's 'rap resume' has a long list of songs he's been featured on. He was featured on Taikoon's "Respect My Hustle" with Banky W,DJ Neptune's "This Gbedu Reloaded" with YQ & Shank, Bez's "Super Sun (Remix)" with ELDee & Eva Alordiah, YQ's "Efimile (Remix)" with Naeto C, M.I, Banky W, & ELDee, Pherowshuz's "Korrect (remix)" with M.I & Terry Tha Rapman, Dekunle Fuji's "Funmilayo" with Jesse Jagz, Jamix's "My Party" with Wizkid & Kel, Reminisce's "2 Mussh [Remix]" with Sauce Kid, and Knighthouse's "Make it Better" with Mo'Cheddah, Funbi, & Mobie, among others.
2012–2013 :Fire of Zamani
| ICE PRINCE |
Main article: Fire of Zamani
In 2012, he began frequent collaborations with Grip Boiz city producer Chopstix, releasing "Aboki" in the summer of 2012. An accompanying music video was released alongside it. "Aboki" peaked at number 92 on Afribiz's Top 100 chart.
On 28 August 2012, Ice Prince released "More", the second single from off the album. The song was also produced by Chopstix. The music video for "More" was shot and directed in London by Moe Musa. It stars Lola Rae, a British Nigerianrecording artist known for her single, "Watch My Ting Go". The video premiered at the 2012 Channel O Music Video Awards, an awards ceremony he co-hosted.
On 25 January 2013, Ice Prince released "Aboki (Remix)", a song he describes as the "biggest African collision ever". The song features Sarkodie, Mercy Johnson, Wizkid, M.I, and Khuli Chana.
On 24 April 2013, Ice Prince and Chocolate City released "Gimme Dat" and "V.I.P" simultaneously. The former made the album's final track-listing while the latter didn't.
Musical influences
Ice Prince cited Notorious B.I.G., Rakim, Jay-Z, Common, Talib Kweli, Kanye West, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Lauryn Hill, M.Iand Jesse Jagz as his key musical influences. Commenting on his relationship with label mate M.I, Ice Prince said: "He is my brother, he is my friend, my mentor. He is someone that if 200 people tell me no and MI tells me yes, I would do the yes. That is how loyal I am to him, that is how I respect him, how much I look up to him. He never gives me bad advice, he wishes me well and he’s always happy when I succeed.
Personal life
Ice Prince has a son named Jamal with Bimbo Babatunde. In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, the rapper said that he dated Eva Alordiah when he first relocated to Lagos.
Discography and filmography
Studio albums
- Everybody Loves Ice Prince (2011)
- Fire of Zamani (2013)
- Ice Prince and Friends (2014) (Not yet released)[28]
Singles
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "Oleku" (featuring Brymo) | Everybody Loves Ice Prince |
| 2011 | "Superstar" | |
| "Juju" | ||
| 2012 | "Ma'Gyptian (Magician Remix)" (featuring Gyptian) | |
| "Aboki" | Fire of Zamani | |
| "More" | ||
| 2013 | "Gimme Dat" | |
| "I Swear" (featuring French Montana) | ||
| "Aboki Remix" (featuring Sarkodie, Mercy Johnson, Wizkid, M.I, and Khuli Chana) | N/A | |
| "V.I.P" |
Film and television
| Film | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
| 2013 | House of Gold | Tony | Supporting role | |
| Television | ||||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
| 2013 | Shuga (Season 3) | Cameo appearance | ||
Awards and nominations
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
| Year | Event | Prize | Recipient | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Future Africa Awards | Prize in Entertainment | Himself | Pending | |
| 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Best Rap Act of the Year | Won | |||
| City People Entertainment Awards | Rap Artiste of the Year | Nominated | |||
| Rap Album of the Year | Fire of Zamani | Nominated | |||
| MTV Africa Music Awards 2014 | Best Hip Hop | Himself | Nominated | ||
| World Music Awards | World's Best Male Artist | Nominated | |||
| World's Best Live Act | Nominated | ||||
| World's Best Entertainer of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| 2013 | The Headies 2013 | Artiste of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Channel O Music Video Awards | Most Gifted African West Video | "Aboki" | Nominated | ||
| Most Gifted Video of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| 4Syte TV Music Video Awards | Best African Act Video | Nominated | |||
| Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA) | Best Hip Hop Video | "V.I.P" | Won | ||
| Best Use of Visual Effects | Nominated | ||||
| MOBO Awards | Best African Act | Himself | Nominated | ||
| Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Best Rap Act of the Year | Won | |||
| BET Awards 2013 | Best International Act: Africa | Won | |||
| City People Entertainment Awards | Best Hip-Hop Artiste of the Year | Won | |||
| Musician of the Year (Male) | Nominated | ||||
| Best Rap Artiste of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| 2012 | Channel O Music Video Awards | Most Gifted Hip-hop Video of the Year | "Superstar" | Won | |
| Most Gifted Reggae Video of the Year | "Juju" | Nominated | |||
| Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Best Album of the Year | Everybody Loves Ice Prince | Nominated | ||
| Best Rap Act of the Year | Himself | Nominated | |||
| BET Awards | Best International Act: Africa | Nominated | |||
| The Headies 2012 | Album of the Year | Everybody Loves Ice Prince | Nominated | ||
| Best Rap Album | Won | ||||
| Artist of the Year | Himself | Nominated | |||
| Hip Hop World Revelation of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Ghana Music Awards | African Artist of the Year | Won | |||
| 2011 | The Headies 2011 | Best Rap Single | "Oleku" (featuring Brymo) | Won | |
| Song of the Year | Won | ||||
| Best Collabo | Nominated | ||||
| "Joor Oh (Remix)" (Jahbless featuring Ice Prince, Durella,Reminisce, and eLDee) | Nominated | ||||
| Best Street-Hop Artiste | Nominated | ||||
| Next Rated | Ice Prince for "Oleku" | Nominated | |||
| Lyricist on the Roll | Nominated | ||||
| Channel O Music Video Awards | Most Gifted Newcomer Video | "Oleku" (featuring Brymo) | Won | ||
| Most Gifted Hip Hop Video | "Nobody Test Me" (Jesse Jagz featuring M.I and Ice Prince) | Nominated | |||
| Most Gifted Video of the Year | "Molowo Noni" (Samklef featuring Wizkid, D'Prince, and Ice Prince) | Nominated | |||
| Dynamix All Youth Awards | Best New Artiste | Himself | Won | ||
| Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA) | Best Contemporary Afro Video | "Oleku" (featuring Brymo) | Nominated | ||
| Nigeria Entertainment Awards | Hottest Single of the Year | Won | |||
| Best New Act of the Year | Himself | Nominated | |||
| Best Rap Act of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| City People Entertainment Awards | Song of the Year | "Oleku" (featuring Brymo) | Won | ||
| Eko FM/ Radio Lagos Awards | Young Artiste of the Year | Himself | Won | ||
| 2010 | Dynamix All Youth Awards | Promising Artiste of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Song of the Year | "Oleku" (featuring Brymo) | Nominated | |||
| 2009 | Hennessy Artistry Club Tour | Hennessy Artistry | Himself | Won |
Performances and appearances
- Chocolate City "The Jam Sessions" 2007 & 2008.
- Host, Sprite Triple Slam Tour (started April 2009) held in Lagos, Ibadan, Aba, Owerri, Onitsha, Asaba, Enugu, Nsukka.
- Benson and Hedges Lockdown Party – Lagos.
- Soundcity Music Video Awards (SMVA) – July 2009
- MTV Base Advance Warning Party – July 2008
- This Day International Music and Fashion Festival, Abuja – August 2008
- WAPI (Words and Pictures)-British Council, Abuja (2008)
- Rhythm Unplugged – Abuja and Jos, 2008
- Crack Your Ribs -Abuja (2008)
- Hennessy Artistry, Lagos-September 2009
- 100% Basketmouth in concert: Lord of the Ribs, Indig02, London – February 2010.
- Rebirth, Reading UK – April 2010
- Hennessy Artistry Theme Song (feat. Shina Peters, Nneka, Bez, Ice Prince and MI) – 2010
- Hennessy Lagos Club Tour, 2010
- Felabration – 2010
- Hennessy Road Runners: Ikeja, Rehab
- Hennessy Grand Finale, Gets Arena, Lagos – November 2010
- Face of Selara, Abuja – December 2010
- Play Bar, Calabar – December 2010
- Facon Republique, Fashion Show, Abuja – December 2010
- Rhythm Unplugged – Lagos, 2010
- Rick Ross private party – Abuja
- Rick Ross concert in Nigeria – December
- NOKIA award winners ceremony – Lagos
- Annual Trade Fair – Jos, 2010
- Oniru Beach Concert Lagos, 2010
- Lord of the Ribs – Lagos, 2010
- Dynamix awards 2010
- Glo lord of the Ribs – Abuja, 2011
- Lord of the Ribs – London, 2011
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