Having attracted a following outside of his former mainstream audience, Ice began recording independently, despite still being signed to Universal. During a recording session, Ice met the all-female American hard rock band from Southern California, Betty Blowtorch. The late Bianca Halstead bonded with Ice and asked if he wanted to contribute a rap interlude to their track "Size Queen". On Ice's collaboration with the band, lead vocalist and bassist Halstead was quoted saying, "I asked him if he could rap over track and he said he can rap over anything. And he could!" Per his stepfather's request, Ice started working with his former manager Tommy Quon again. While hoping to re-create some of the magic that they worked hard on in the early 1990s, Ice denied any interest in trying to become big again, stating that his only passion was music, not fame.