Panshak Zamani, popularly known as Ice Prince, was one of the defining faces of Nigerian hip-hop in the 2010s. His breakout hit, “Oleku” featuring Brymo, did not just make him a household name; it became an anthem that defined an entire era of Nigerian rap.
His recent appearance on Black Box x The Native HQ revealed a man looking back at an older version of himself, realising that what once felt like luxury and enjoyment were actually incredibly expensive lessons. 
Here are the habits that cost Ice Prince a fortune:
₦340 Million on Weed
Ice Prince stated that he spent roughly ₦340 million on weed between 2020 and 2026 from a single Lagos dealer alone. He made it clear that this figure did not even include his expenses with other dealers in Abuja, Jos, Ghana, and London. At his peak, he was spending around ₦60,000 daily, often footing the bill for friends and the people around him.
That is the kind of figure that makes people immediately calculate the houses, land, businesses, investments, and cars that the money could have bought instead.
Yet, it is not even about the calculations; it is about how ordinary the lifestyle seemed while he was living it.
This is the reality of fame. Sometimes, waste does not look like waste when the money is consistently rolling in. It looks like the “soft life”, a reward. It feels like “I worked for this” or simply the price of being the man of the hour. That is, until years later, when looking back makes that same lifestyle start to feel incredibly heavy.
Smoking two packs of cigarettes daily
His weed addiction was not the only habit that cost him. Ice Prince admitted that he used to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day, describing himself as a heavily addicted, chronic smoker. Fortunately, he also shared that he has now completely cut out both weed and cigarettes.
Some things cost far more than cash; they cost health, discipline, clarity, and control. From the outside, people often idealise the celebrity lifestyle—the late nights, the smoke, the alcohol, the endless entourage, and the constant movement. But the moment the person living it starts using words like “addiction”, the glamour fades quickly. It stops sounding like the “soft life” and starts sounding like something he had to fight his way out of.
Weed was not his only expensive vice. Ice Prince also admitted to being a chronic cigarette smoker, tearing through two packs a day at the height of his dependency. Today, he has completely cleaned up, cutting out both habits entirely.
But some things cost far more than cash—they cost health, clarity, and control. From the outside, the celebrity lifestyle is easily idealised: the late nights, the smoke, the alcohol, and the endless entourage. Yet, the moment the person living it starts using words like “addiction”, the glamour evaporates. It stops looking like the “soft life” and starts looking like a survival story.
Buying a Bentley
Ice Prince also spoke about buying a Bentley, calling it one of his biggest mistakes and admitting that he “messed up”. He revealed that he was still living in a rented apartment at the time he bought the luxury vehicle.
In celebrity culture, a luxury car is rarely just a vehicle; it is a statement. It is proof that the music worked, proof that the struggle paid off, and validation that you have reached the level everyone expected you to. While Ice Prince explained that buying the car was a casual, internal decision made among friends, many fans viewed it as intense peer competition with label mate, MI.
Blogs will post it, friends will cheer, and fans will comment. Yet, in the middle of the hype, nobody asks if the timing makes sense, if the maintenance is sustainable, or if the purchase was born out of genuine wisdom or just pressure disguised in designer glasses.
Alcohol
He also spoke on his consumption of alcohol which he had to stop when he started his weight loss journey. He said alcohol was easier to stop because he was not really an alcoholic, unlike cigarettes, which he described as harder because of addiction.
Ice Prince was not just talking about weed, cigarettes, alcohol, or a Bentley. He was talking about a phase of his life where fame, access, money, and habits made expensive choices feel normal and there are so many lesson to learn from him.
Ultimately, the interview was not just about weed or cars. It was a breakdown of the true cost of a phase: the substance abuse, the reckless spending, the enabling entourage, the toxic habits that became normalized, and a version of fame that made every bad decision feel completely justified at the time.
ALSO READ: No More Marriage for Regina Daniels? Her Past Comments Tell a Different Story
About The Author
Keep Up to Date with the Most Important News
