OAKLAND — Performing in front and on top of set pieces resembling a New York subway station, as images of lit-up city skyscapes flashed behind her and a giant inflatable caricature of herself, Bronx rapper Ice Spice made her Bay Area headlining debut at the Fox Theater on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old artist—both lauded by early career accomplishments like four Grammy nominations and several top-5 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and scrutinized for some of her artistic choices, short songs seemingly tailor-made for social media vitality and her famous friends—performed a solid and entertaining, though short, set.

Because most of her songs are in the 90- to 120-second range, Ice Spice (born Isis Gaston) was able to get through pretty much all the hits that have carried her to the top since 2022. There was also much time for twerking. She hit the stage running with “Pop,” appearing in one of several openings of the subway station set piece, backlit by flashing strobes, while another spotlight hit her from above. Her hair was her signature ginger, but it reached halfway down her body, rather than the short cut for which she’s known.

“I’m ya leada!” she rapped, taking control of the crowded general admission floor of the Fox (the floor was packed, but the show was far from sold out, showing she’s still got room for growth).

When the show visuals weren’t hyping the Big Apple, they fit into the overall theme of the Y2K! WORLD TOUR, named both for her debut album of the same name and her birthday: Jan. 1, 2000. [Side note: I was in New York that day, watching the ball drop and wondering if all the computers were going to crash. Yes, I feel old]. More specifically, Ice Spice incorporated plenty of Windows ’98 imagery.

The rapper came up in New York City’s drill scene, and at the Fox, she sometimes offered up the rapid-fire delivery of the genre, even if the subjects of her rhymes were bodily functions and butts at a comparatively higher proportion than many of her peers.

She rattled off hits “Munch (Feelin’ U),” as a video of a helicopter with its own spotlight helped illuminate the stage, and “Princess Diana,” while kneeling as four dancers contorted behind her and smoke came up from the stage floor.

“Oakland, I like the energy!” she shouted.

Then during “Phat Butt,” she rapped into a microphone held by two of her dancers (so she could hold her hands behind her back). The song ended with a dance break by her crew while she briefly left the stage. At this point, only 12 or so minutes had gone by in the show.

Most of the songs came from her recently released debut LP, Y2K!, as well as 2023 EP, Like..?

Then there was the ever-popular “Barbie World,” her collab with Nicki Minaj sampling the ’90s Aqua tune. The stage lights turned pink and fuchsia as she and her dancers performed some theme-appropriate choreography, looking the part of dolls.

Next came the dramatic “Gimmie a Light,” which samples a similarly named Sean Paul song. Some of her fastest, most fun and technically savvy rapping came on “Bikini Bottom.”

“Where are the butt shakers?” Ice Spice asked before pulling several volunteers from the audience to shake their behinds during “GYAT.” By the time they made it onto the stage (which was relatively quick), they had one minute to show off their skills.

“Gangsta Boo” went right into “Actin a Smoochie.” Ice then pulled out the set’s most melodic cut, “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2.” This song, too, offered a deep, bass-laden beat, but the combination of PinkPantheress’ recorded vocals and her own singing still made it stand out. The mood soon slingshot-ed with the sinister-sounding “Bitch I’m Packin’ (a Gunna collab, though unlike her previous L.A. show, he didn’t appear) and viral “Deli.”

“Open that shit up!” her DJ yelled as the song was kicking into a heavier gear.

The rest of the roughly hourlong set breezed by before Ice Spice concluded with a one-song encore of “Think U the Shit (Fart).”

Rapper Cash Cobain, also from New York, preceded Ice Spice with a short set of his songs and features with other artists, such as Don Toliver’s “ATTITUDE” and a hard-hitting and woozy “Rump.”

He called up a couple of guests to perform—Bronx’s Vontee the Singer and Matthew Ali—who rapped “FOR US.” They taught the crowd to dance like a wave for “Dunk Contest” and “Rump Punch,” as his crew on stage expanded to include more friends. The dance included waving your arms in front of you like you were shaking out a comforter. For the latter song, he asked for the stage lighting to turn from green to red for the “sexy ladies.”

DJ and Ice Spice producer RIOTUSA spun some records in a set of his own. The set was heavy on hard-hitting beats with songs like Playboi Carti’s “Sky” that tested the Fox’s subwoofers, Bryson Tiller’s “Whatever She Wants,” “soak city (do it)” by 310babi, “Is Ya Ready” by Kay Flock and Sheck Wes’ “Mo Bamba.”

Cleotrapa, also from New York and a friend of Ice Spice, opened the show with a set of hard-hitting drill songs, starting with “Rockstar.” The Nigerian-born artist and TikToker then worked her way through “Von Dutch” and “Main Character.”

Between sets, fashion commercials and a movie trailer were played on a screen several times. This is a first we’ve seen of such marketing outside of movie theaters.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Derek Fisher at Instagram.com/dfishswish.