A Long Journey To The Top: Ice Prince Zamani

I’ve been through the rain, been through the pain, been through a lot of shit…Ice Prince Zamani (Stars & Light)

We all see the glamour of the man Ice Prince. His amazing persona, show-stopping hits, obviously wealthy accounts, brand endorsements and sold-out concerts. We see a finished item, a man at the top of his game who just released his latest album, Fire Of Zamani. But do you know his back story? And how he journeyed from demeaning grass, to glitter and grace?

Pulse.ng brings you the journey of Ice Prince Zamani, his trials, victories, and sweat to the top of African Entertainment.

Zamani Childhood

 Ice Prince was born Panshak Henri Zamani in the city of Minna, Niger State, Nigeria, in 1986. 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, Mikel Obi, and the Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda among others. He also attended the Science Tutorial College in Jos.

Musical Discovery

Music came natural to Ice Prince. In 1998, he began to write rap songs, performing them at school social events, while slowly nurturing his budding talent. But it wasn’t until 2001 that he got a taste of recording in a music studio.

In 2002, the young Ice Prince and a couple of friends got together to form a group called Ecomog Squad.

“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.” A reflective Ice Prince said in an interview with Adeola Adeyemo.

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”.

Trials Of Zamani

Ice Prince lost his Dad during his first year in college. He had to drop out of the University to focus on music, and make ends meet.

“I wasn’t born with a silver spoon,” Ice Prince revealed.

“My dad was not a billionaire, neither was he a pauper. He sent us to good schools and we had vacations outside the country; we were okay but in 1999 I lost him.

“He was a soldier, “he taught me everything I know today. My mum was very supportive but she died in 2011, so right now I am an orphan.”

 “It feels lonely. We were three kids; a boy and two girls and I am the eldest. I became the man of the house after my dad passed on and that has given me a sense of responsibility. It made me grow up overnight”

“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.”

Musical Big Breaks

In 2004, Ice Prince got his musical career to a professional start. He 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.

Then came Chocolate City. Ice Prince was signed to the label after M.I, and Jesse Jagz.

“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 organized by the Hennessy brand which supports urban and contemporary music. The competition featured the likes ofBez, Mo’cheddah, Blaise, and Jimmy Flames; Ice Prince came out 1st with his lead single “Badman” at the end of the competition.

Albums

Between 2010 and 2010, Ice Prince dropped his debut album, “Everybody Loves Ice Prince”. “Oleku”, a song off the album quickly won led the charge, winning the hearts of all Nigerians. Since after the album, Ice Prince has grown into a genuine leader of African Entertainment.

In 2012, he began frequent collaborations with Grip Boiz City producer Chopstix, releasing “Aboki“ in the summer of 2012. On August 28, 2012, Ice Prince released “More“, the second single from his second studio album, Fire of Zamani (FOZ). The song was also produced by Chopstix. The music video for “More” was shot and directed in London by Moe Musa. The video premiered at the 2012 Channel O Music Video Awards, an awards ceremony he co-hosted.

On January 25, 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 April 24, 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.

FOZ has 17 tracks and features collaborations with Chip, French Montana, Wizkid, Ruby Gyang. The album concert will be held on Saturday, October 23, 2013.

Awards

Ice Prince has bagged a fair number of awards, and countless nominations. They include awards from Channel O, Nigerian Entertainment Awards, MOBO Awards, The Headies, and most recently, the BET Awards.

Source: Pulse.ng