Icewear Vezzo

Known for gritty street lyrics and a choppy flow, rapper Icewear Vezzo emerged in the ’10s as a leading figure in the Detroit hip-hop scene. • As a preteen rap fan, Icewear Vezzo would record songs off the radio and play them on repeat to learn the lyrics. The first song he memorized was JAY-Z’s “Jigga What.” • By the time he was 16, he’d begun rapping as Young Vez. He switched his name to Icewear Vezzo after dropping the mixtape Young Vez Presents Icewear Vol. 1. • Icewear Vezzo released his debut mixtape, The Clarity, in 2012. The collection would spawn many sequels. • The rapper temporarily paused his career in April 2016, when he was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to firearms charges. He wound up serving 18 months. • In 2018, Icewear Vezzo signed with Motown Records, becoming the first Detroit artist to ink a deal with the legendary label following its embrace of hip-hop in the ’10s.