Rap?
Tierra Whack
Tierra Whack was on the path of becoming a true visionary. Her creativity and willingness to try anything was almost unmatched in the landscape of modern pop, hip-hop, and R&B. Who else would hop in the recording booth, mouth still numb from a dental procedure earlier that day, and record a garbled, unintelligible performance and have the confidence to release that to the world (Mumbo Jumbo)? Who else has the genius to conceive a debut album that consists of fifteen one-minute vignettes that perfectly showcases every single facet of their talent (Whack World)? The answer to these questions is of course Tierra Whack. Knowing this makes listening to Rap? a complete and utter shock as I found it to be some of the most monotonous and uninspired music Whack has created yet.
This EP contains just three tracks, two of which are frankly offensive if you are at all aware of the talent Whack possesses. Both Stand Up and Millions feature mind-numbing verses with stagnant, boring flows and one braggadocious non-sequitur after the next. Stand Up is only marginally better because it has a clear chorus and an attempt at a hook. There isn't a single thing that is creative, groundbreaking, or progressive about these two tracks, which again is incredibly confusing to me, seeing as I pegged her as somewhat of a risk-taker.
The other track on this EP, Meagan Good, was the only track I found to be of any substance. The first verse in particular I find to be smartly written as she details the one-sided nature of a previous relationship. She shares the toll a prison sentencing and the continued grieving of a lost friend had on the progression of her partner's rap career as well as the numerous cash transfers keeping him going while he was being unfaithful to her. "Even when you cheated, I felt defeated, but didn't seem it, I went and cheated back, I was heated, now I'm conceited," she raps at the end, impressively piling in all these internal rhymes. To me, this illustrates that Tierra Whack could have continued on this deceptive path, returning the toxic energy she is receiving back into the world, but instead opted to break away and forge a new honest path on her own. Something she should certainly feel proud about.
Meagan Good gives me confidence that Tierra Whack hasn't fallen off. It's not even that I dislike braggadocious rap, its just delivered with zero effort or creativity. There's no attempt to switch up the flow, or have any progression in the instrumentals. It's rather upsetting. I'm hoping that this was just a fun EP that Whack has thrown together and that when it comes time to craft another full-length album, Whack will show us once again why she is one of the most interesting faces in rap.
3.0
Standouts:
Hip-Hop (2021) Interscope. Reviewed December 4th, 2021
Pop?
Tierra Whack
Just one week removed and Tierra Whack is back with another EP; this time titled Pop?. Once again, I'm just flabbergasted at how little effort seems to be put into the music. For an artist who has made a name by showing unbounded creativity and crafting these unique worlds around the music, I can't believe that Tierra Whack is selecting some of the most dry instrumentals and doesn't seem to care to have any sort of musical progression. Lazy is made up of one single crunchy rock'n'roll riff that cycles over and over... and over. Tierra Whack's lyrics or vocal performance is not enough to carry this track at all either. When she rapid fires the line "get up and get a job, you barely tried, you lied, you lied, you lied, you lied," she maintains the same pitch the entire phrase, and the auto-tune applied to her voice garbles all the words. It actually sounds like trash.
Dolly is much nicer on the ears, but it's a terribly sleepy tune. It has a cycling banjo sample and some plucked stand-up bass that may or may not be synthesized. Nothing offensive, however, nothing captivating either. The only track that feels like effort was put in was on the opening track Body of Water. Except here, I feel like Tierra Whack is pulling a little too heavy from some influences, namely Outkast. I feel like the drums and the vocal shrieks came straight out of B.O.B.. Also, the "1... 2... 1-2-3-4" right before the chorus is delivered almost exactly the way André 3000 performed it on Hey Ya! The uncanny resemblances continue in the pre-chorus, where Whack seems to lift a melody and flow (I'm sure unintentionally) from Eminem's Superman. This track does have some pretty fiery raps though, something that was surprisingly missing from Rap?. I guess that should count for something.
I'm not sure what the deal is with this series of EPs. Tierra Whack is zero for two right now. What's worse is that this album cover suggests we might have another EP on the way and I'm not sure I can handle another batch of uninspired songs and terribly boring, monotonous instrumentals. I guess I'm invested in this series now, but I must say my faith in Tierra Whack is being tested.
3.3
Standouts:
Hip-Hop, Pop (2021) Interscope. Reviewed December 9th, 2021
R&B?
Tierra Whack
Well here we are. R&B? is presumably the last EP from this string to drop and my expectations were at an all time low after the last two. Luckily this EP doesn't feature a song as painfully uneventful as the others, but this set of three songs isn't blowing me away all that much either. It kicks off with my favourite track Heaven; a song that easily could have landed on Kanye West's Donda. I really like the soaring backing vocals that are very gospel inspired, and the song also has a nice sentiment. Tierra Whack expresses her desire to get into heaven so that she can reunite with her 'favourite people' (a lost love may be insinuated in the second verse) and also play shows which I can imagine sounds appealing to Whack given Heaven's unlimited potential. This track is backed by some church organ, however, all the high frequencies have been sucked out providing a very somber quality as opposed to the typical joyous tone.
The other two songs are not terrible but they do fall into similar pitfalls that songs from the other two EPs do. The instrumentals are fine, but they could use a few added touches here and there to make them a little more interesting. Also, seeing as this is the R&B EP, I was hoping Whack would flex a little more vocally as a lot of the repetitive vocal lines and the use of pitch shifting still makes this feel very pop. I can't help but think about the track Waze, the final track from Whack's awesome Whack World, in which her voice sounds so incredibly soulful and in a short time, pulls off some great vocal runs. I feel like those qualities are missing here.
I'm not quite sure what to make of these new EPs from Tierra Whack. A part of me hopes that these songs were purposefully assembled in haste to just get something out there and tide over fans before she releases the main offering. However, now that we've essentially received and album's worth of material here, I'm starting to think that everything in these tracks were super intentional. In my opinion, that's not a good sign. Even the few spots where the music was quite decent, a part of me felt like Whack was pulling too much inspiration from others; the singular, visionary, and creative force behind Whack World seemed to be gone. Maybe I'm just being very pessimistic, but I can't remember the last time an artist I loved fell so quickly out of favour. To me, I feel a little heartbroken.
5.6
Standouts:
Hip-Hop, Pop (2021) Interscope. Reviewed December 18th, 2021
