Tierra Whack's #WhackHistoryMonth Was About Growth And Bold Exploration
As soon as
Tierra Whack builds, she builds big. Her 2018 debut album,
Whack World, compiled a vast, often cartoonish, always-engaging realm of sounds explored over just 15 one minute-long songs. Nevertheless
the visual project was just an appetizer to create each person for what would come next. She had to ease listeners into her story though bubbling rain, vast fields of pink grass, and also a sea made of purple soda. With her world long-established, a new path was opened.
Whack
announced #WhackHistoryMonth on Twitter weeks before she officially kicked it off in mid-February with the release of "
Only Child." Here, she jumped back inside the
Whack World universe, only this time, she strayed away from the formal rules trim customary by distributing songs of more customary structure and range rather than one-minute creative explosions. Four more releases followed, one per week, in which Whack totally redefined her artistry and introduced tighter, more impactful versions of the styles shared on
Whack World.
These tracks or might not directly line the golden road to a new LP; either way, they appear to be a promising symptom of what's to come. Here's a breakdown of Whack's five #WhackHistoryMonth releases of 2019.
"Only Child"
When It Dropped: February 19
How It Sounds: Bubbly nevertheless sad, with a slight twinge of scorn
Standout lines: "You must be the only child because you're so stingy / I just hope to go buck wild any time whenever you don't defend me"
There's something comical about Whack's sadness in "Only Child." Her immediate comparison of a selfish lover to an only child is absurd, telling, and admittedly hilarious. How can you equate cheating with having no brothers or sisters? Rarely is the topic of infidelity approached with this cautious balance of charm and scorn, though. The timbre of her voice from agitation and crying leaves her slurred words burning in the chest, however her softer, flitting voice eases the mind. Whack World introduced her ear for stringy melodies, and she confidently expands them here, bringing her span much higher than anything we've heard previously. It makes her raps about that other girl getting syphilis sound like appetizing poison.
"CLONES"
When It Dropped: February 26
How It Sounds: Heavy, like you require an antacid soon after scarfing down five cheeseburgers
Standout Lines: "Whack, Whack, damn she killer / Why she got holes in her denim?"
Like a cat tangled in a disaster of yarn,
Whack World's playfulness was its defining aspects. "CLONES," meanwhile, is a zoo lion that's been let out of its cage. Whack immediately makes that clear, demanding her engineer leave a recorded sneeze on track, twice. And then the bass crashes like colliding trains, a devastating growl left in aftermath. Because the gigantic 808s continuously rumble, Whack digs into another facet of her personality: the straight-faced spitter with something to prove. Her raps here don't contain any quantity of melody. As an alternative, she opts for a rattling, low-volume dice roll with each word, her voice bouncing off the walls of the track with each curse, comparison, and humblebrag. These aren't your regular bust-down watches and "
Dripping Patek" bars. They're earthier and emotional, with the true flex being her creative voice control.
"Gloria"
When It Dropped: March 5
How It Sounds: Floaty and slightly sad, with a sharp flute shining through
Standout Lines: "Swear that I work the hardest / Most of y'all dudes are garbage"
If "Only Child" is a bright path, and "CLONES" is a darker take on her spitting ability, "
Gloria" in an educated manner walks the middle road to twilight. The production is beautifully simple: A repeating hi-hat massages the track while a flute runs rampant. The song acknowledges its new approaches as Whack constantly changes-up her delivery ("Hit 'em with the new flow"), adding a self-aware shtick and goofy charm to the otherwise straight-faced song about coming up in the world.
"Wasteland"
When It Dropped: March 12
What It Sounds Like: Adding some Sprite to your holy water
Standout Lines: "Can't be seen with you / You don't match my fly"
If #WhackHistoryMonth has a unifying theme, it's that Whack's collective sound is much darker than on her last outing. Each track's production is a little bit bleaker than the last, causing the dry emotions to be clearer each time. "
Wasteland" uses a quiet organ to bring some warmth and glue the song with each other. A weary Whack slurs her rhymes as she swats away interested guys decided to win her attention. You could hear the hint of fear in her voice as she makes a new excuse each time she's approached — something girls face again and again. As soon as she asserts her own organization and flat-out denies someone, saying three different variations of "no" in rapid succession on the chorus, the effect is striking.
"Unemployed"
When It Dropped: March 19
What It Sounds Like: Like a villain with a chest cold
Standout Lines: "Where the money at? Ayo, pass that / I am going to stab backs just for bags, racks"
In the past, it's felt like Whack's bright, bubbly personality defined her. Quite the contrary here: Whack is just harsh because the most evil video-game villain. "
Unemployed" is bass-heavy destruction, a bold addendum to her
Whack World aesthetic. This song is about power; it’s the kind of gargantuan tune that comes any time there really are no challengers in the immediate vicinity. And, lyrically, she flat-out asserts her dominance, connecting puzzle pieces in wrong ways that turn out right. The "at"s and "ah"s hanging on the ends of words are emphasized and glued with each other to fit even if they don't make a brilliant match.
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