As a result of his connection to Ice Spice, Joey Gaston is making a name for himself among fans. This 16-year-old is the little brother of the Grammy-nominated artist, who went viral after a photo of her senior yearbook was shared online. Following the yearbook post, a video showing the high school junior dominating the football field went viral online — helping fans link the two as siblings again.
On Friday, Gaston led his team to a playoff victory and recently signed with Next Models. The Iona prep player explained that life after viral attention “is amazing” and revealed how his sister’s music career success hasn’t changed how he lives a “normal” life.
“Life is amazing, to be honest. Recently, I had a whole bunch of people reach out to me — famous people, old friends — being like, ‘Yo, I heard that was your sister. Da da da da, how is it?’ It’s cool, man. Just living life. School is normal,” he told GQ.
Despite his newfound fame, he knows how to handle the attention, revealing he doesn’t have enemies.
“I don’t look at her as Ice Spice. I look at her as Isis, my older sister. Other people that came in my life later on knowing she’s my sister, off the bat, they’ll be like, ‘Yo, what’s good?’ trying to dap me up immediately,” he said. “I’m cool with everybody. I don’t have any enemies at all.”
According to Gaston, although Ice Spice is a hip-hop phenomenon, he sees her as a protective older sister.
“She’s always trying to talk me up on little things, giving me tips. Whether it’s football or girls, you know what I mean? School, too, she’s always giving me tips because she always has my back. I’m grateful to have her as a sister,” he explained.
Outside of football, his other passion involves “taking photos.” He revealed his teammates would tell him he’s “trying too hard” when posing in his picks, but Gaston brushed them off. A few months later, Next Model discovered his yellow bus selfies on Instagram and offered him a job. It didn’t take Gaston long to jump on this opportunity.
“I jumped on it ASAP,” he said.
When asked which one he loved more — football or modeling — he admitted to being unable to choose. Having a Troy Bolton moment, Gaston said he plans to balance both for as long as possible.
“I always had a little passion for taking photos. I was on a bus ride to a football game, over here taking selfies and stuff like that, snapping people,” he said. “That’s just in me. It’s in my blood. To my teammates, I was trying a little too hard to take my photos, but like I’m not trying at all. It’s natural to me. Once I got the opportunity from Next Models, they reached out to me, and I jumped right on it immediately. I can actually show myself and be myself. Instead of being on a bus taking selfies, I could be in a good setting taking professional photos!”
“That’s like asking a dad if he values one kid over the other. You can’t do that! He loves both his kids! I want to be able to do both for as long as possible. I want to be in the NFL, and I want to model. I have a little bit of a passion for both,” he revealed. “It’s amazing that my schedule allows me to do both. I can’t work a 9-5 or something like that. I’m always busy. Modeling is a job that I’m able to do but also feel comfortable in. Whenever I have a free day, I can go model. I would never say that I value one more than the other,” he added.
Many celebrity siblings have shown that talent runs in the family, including Beyoncé and Solange, Tia, Tamera and Tahj Mowery, Lisa Raye and Da Brat, and many more. While Gaston isn’t sure what’s in the water, he is adamant about supporting his sister, staying focused and striving for perfection.
“I don’t know. Maybe it is in our blood! Maybe it was the way we were raised or the area we were raised in. Whatever it is, I just know I’mma keep on doing it and pushing for perfection. She’s going to keep doing what she’s doing; we’re going to love each other and give each other support 100% of the way. That’s all I know,” he said.
The star quarterback hopes to be recruited by an NCAA school for college. He runs a 4.5 on the field, a 40-yard dash, and is ranked top 20 in the state for passing yards and total yards. He has dreams of playing on a D1 team and getting drafted into the NFL.
“I’m still working on official offers as of right now. I have a lot of interest, but I just gotta wait my turn a little bit more. They’re going to start coming in as I keep on proving myself. I want to go to whatever college accepts me as the quarterback I am. I want to go anywhere that will allow me to play and play as me. Give me those read options or a three-step drop and hit a receiver in between the defense. My dream college is the college that wants me,” he concluded.