Panshak Henry Zamani (born 30 October 1984), better known as Ice Prince, is a Nigerian hip hop recording artist and actor.
Early Life & Career
Ice Prince was born in the Nigerian town of Minna, Niger State. He moved to Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, with his family when he was two years old. He is of Angas descent. He attended St. Murumba College while living in Jos. He also attended Jos’ Science Tutorial College.
In 1999, he began writing Rap songs and performing them at social events at his school. He didn’t start going to recording studios to record until 2001. In 2002, he established the “ECOMOG Squad.” They only performed a few times as a group before breaking up 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”.
Ice Prince was asked to summarize his story during an interview with Adeola Adeyemo. “I started out in Jos in a group called ECOMOG squad,” he explained. We used to rap and sing in unison. After a few years, the group disbanded, and I joined the choir at my church, where I began singing Tenor. That was around the time MI returned to Nigeria, and we became friends, family, started living together, and started making music together. When I had a song that reached number one in Jos, that’s 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.” Ice Prince also opened up about the passing of his parents and the challenges he faced early on.
He said:
“Life was not that rosy. When my dad was alive, life was pretty much rosy but I lost my Dad in 1999 and it was my Mum that was taking care of me up until she died too. So it was kinda hard to get by, really. I dropped out of school in my 100Level to focus on my music.I moved to Abuja and started living with MI and Jesse Jagz. We were making music, doing some small small shows just to get money. Then we moved to Lagos, we got a chance to chill at Djinee’s house. Djinee gave us some space in his house to sleep. Djinee is like my Jesus. He came through for us. We lived in his house and made it very uncomfortable for him but he took all the pain and accommodated us. This was in 2008. Gradually, there was steady growth. We got our own place, started making music. In 2008, I hosted Sprite Triple Slam. We did 30 shows, 15 in Lagos, 15 in the East. I got some small money off that to buy some new jeans and shoes so that girls would, you know, say hi to me when they see me.”
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.”
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.
During the aforementioned interview, Ice Prince discussed why he chose the name Everybody Loves Ice Prince for his debut album. “What really prompted me to give my album that name was when I lost my mother,” he explained. There was so much love and care from all over the world. People truly showed me love, and it was after that incident that I returned to record my album, with the title Everybody Loves Ice Prince, because I had been 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.
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.
Ice Prince released “More” as the album’s second single on August 28, 2012. Chopstix also produced the song. Moe Musa shot and directed the music video for “More” in London. Lola Rae, a British Nigerian recording artist best known for her single “Watch My Ting Go,” stars in it. The video debuted at the Channel O Music Video Awards in 2012.
Ice Prince released “Aboki (Remix)” on January 25, 2013, describing it as the “biggest African collision ever.”
Sarkodie, Mercy Johnson, Wizkid, M.I, and Khuli Chana all appear on the track. Ice Prince and Chocolate City released “Gimme Dat” and “V.I.P” simultaneously on April 24, 2013. The former made the final tracklisting for the album, while the latter did not.
In 2015, Ice Prince began making available singles from his third studio album. The eventual release of the album signified his first independent album outside Chocolate City record label. He revealed to Pulse he had Universal Studio in the US mix and master the album.
Personal Life
Ice Prince has a son named Jamal with Bimbo Babatunde. In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, the rapper said he dated Eva Alordiahwhen he first relocated to Lagos.
Album
Everybody Loves Ice Prince (2011)
Fire of Zamani (2013)
Jos to the World (2016)
EPs
Trash Can (2015)
C.O.L.D (2018)
Compilation albums
The Indestructible Choc Boi Nation (2015)
Movies
House of Gold (2013)
Shuga season 3 (2013)
Awards
Hennessy Artistry, Hennessy Artistry Club Tour, 2009
Best Male Hip Hop Artist, Ben TV Awards, 2014
Young Artiste of the Year, Eko FM/Radio Lagos Awards, 2011
Song of the Year, ‘Oleku ft Brymo’ City People Entertainment Awards, 2011
Best New Artiste, Dynamix All Youth Awards, 2011
Hottest Single of the Year, ‘Oleku ft. Brymo’ Nigeria Entertainment Awards, 2011
Best Rap Single, ‘Oleku ft Brymo’, The Headies, 2011
Song of the Year, Oleku ft Brymo, The Headies, 2011
Most Gifted Newcomer Video, Oleku ft Brymo, Channel O Music Video Awards, 2011
African Artist of the Year, Ghana Music Awards, 2012
Best Rap Album, ‘Everybody loves Ice Prince, The Headies, 2012
Most Gifted Hip-hop Video of the Year, ‘Superstar’ Channel O Music Video Awards, 2012
Best International Act: Africa, BET Awards, 2013
The Best Hip-Hop Artiste of the Year, City People Entertainment Awards, 2013
Best Rap Act of the Year, Nigeria Entertainment Awards, 2013
The Best Hip Hop Video, Nigeria Music Video Awards, (NMVA), 2013
Best Rap Act of the Year, 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards, 2014
Peace Achiever’s Award, Peace Ambassador Agency, 2017
Net Worth
Ice Prince has a net worth of $7 million.
