It's a very Whack World
One of the riskiest things that an artist can do is present a self-critique within the genre it is trying to exist in. Tierra Whack is exploiting the technologies that exist in 2018 in order to critique the technologies themselves and the limitations that innately accompany them.. Tierra Whack’s Whack World Is a genre-bending conceptual album that is hyper-aware of itself and the context in which it lives. In our fast-paced consumer culture, Whack presents a hyper-consumable album in the form of a set of fifteen, minute-long tracks. Although each track can be streamed by itself, the collection of tracks is best experienced through the fifteen-minute music video released on YouTube. Originally released on Instagram in one-minute music video form, the debut album gives listeners a taste of the creative, self-aware, and surrealist work to come from Tierra Whack.
In addition to the form in that Whack World exists, the audiovisual record takes double meanings through the video accompaniment. One of the running themes throughout the album (and in her other songs, released since) is food. It is a lyrical and visual thread that ties her work together and identifies itself as her work. Despite the brevity of each song, large self-aware ideas are discussed. However whimsically, Whack succeeds in making her point through Whack World.
The first track, “Black Nails” opens on Whack seated in a nail salon, wearing a hoodie with a wearable representation of herself. Visually the lyrics are represented by images on her nails. She immediately declares her independence as an artist with the line, “Best believe I’m gon’ sell | If I just am myself”. An artist’s declaration of independence is becoming more of a staple in hip-hop by lesser know, non-mainstream, and unsigned artists. Chance the Rapper does a similar this in Coloring Book with the track “No Problem” and with his single, “My Own Thing”. These ideas are not unique to Whack, however, their presentation is what is drawing attention. Rather than being formulaic in order to sell music, Whack declares that her way is working and growing her as a reputable artist.
For “Bugs Life”, we are visually in the same space, as Whack reveals a contorted version of her face beneath her hoodie. She nods to mumble rap in this track. With the first line, “Probably would’ve blew overnight if I was white”, Whack addresses one of the largest issues plaguing the music industry. This is not an issue that can be tackled in a one-minute track. However, Whack acknowledgment of the issue of race in “Bugs Life” is important as she continues on this condensed, consumer version of an album. She presents the short version of reality, without diving into different parts of the argument. The awareness of herself of a woman of color presenting in a field dominated by racism and sexism is a risky move. Whack handles this critique honestly and harshly in this track.
Borrowing the visual and lyric theme from the previous track, “Flea Market” is the third track on Whack World. Visually, The video is connected by Whack’s character from the previous video walking through a door from one room to the next room, where Whack is grooming a stuffed dog. The thematic content takes a turn in this track from self-aware issues to dealing with a personal relationship. Visually, the idea of grooming plays into how people often act when pursuing romantic relationships. Whack, I think is discussing this relationship in a way that is aware of the content.
The transition from the “Flea Market” to “Cable Guy” is the first time it feels like the listener get cut off. With a hard cut at the end of the final phrase of “Flea Market,” we are visually transported to a domestic space where Whack’s character is observing a cable guy attempt to repair a television set. Something interesting that is done in this track is overtly giving known things different meanings. Continuing with the theme of relationship, Whack lists out three well-known acronyms for TV stations, “ABC, MTV, BET” while another vocal presence raps, “All boys cry. Men touch vaginas, Bitches eat tacos”. This track begins to point out a flaw in how our consumer culture has boiled down relationships to something that can be seen on television. She presents the argument that the reason relational issues arise is that we are accustomed to curating and controlling one another via social media and other forms of media consumption. Again, this track is aware of itself existing on, and exploiting the limitations of the platform that it is attempting to critique.
A menu for a Chinese restaurant on a table is the visual tie from “Cable Guy” to “4 Wings”. This track directly addresses how content is condensed and passed off to be sold. She begins in the chorus with the line, “Salt, pepper, ketchup, and hot sauce, Fry hard cause I do not like soft” She transitions into discussing the death of her friend and fellow local Phillidelphia rapper, Hulitho. The responsibility she feels as a Philly native Hip-Hop artist and a woman of color is present in the line, “My city needs me I promised I wouldn't fail 'em”. This track has an awareness of it’s “bite-sized” perspective on ideas of grief and responsibility.
Whack expands on the idea of consumability and sellability in the next track, “Hookers”. Coming out of the “4 Wings” with the line, “I’m tired of trying love | Don’t try to buy my love” Whack expresses what she feels personally exploited and sold, relating back to the title of the track. Visually this track feels less connected to the first few tracks. A shift in attitude surrounding the capital involved in Whack’s work happens in the next track “Hungry Hippo”. She seems to present herself as more confident and proud of the work that she has created. Whack acknowledges the clear and present sexism with the line, “Not your average girl, he needed swag and I provided” These tracks, I think to address their proximity to each other on the album with the juxtaposition of the two attitudes on the same subject. Whack’s self-awareness toward the question she is asking herself is present. I think she resolves that she can have it both ways, making her city proud by using her experience to create work that people want to buy.
A drastic shift is made in “Pet Cemetary” both visually and musically. Whack transitions to a more upbeat flow and lyrical attitude toward this dead dog she is referring to. There is a clever comical aspect to this track in the clear withholding of a promise. In the track, Whack says, “My dog had a name (I’m gon’ say his name) Keepin’ his name alive (I’m the one to blame)”. However, Whack never says the name of her dog… Unless her dog’s name is Heaven. Thematically, this ties in with the ideas of death and tragedy discussed in the last two tracks. This track talks about death much differently than before.
The disconnect between tracks is greater moving to “Fuck Off”. Visually, this track is much different, appearing in a sterile white room full of red balloons tied to weights on the floor. Musically, this song continues the upbeat attitude from “Pet Cemetary”. The cynical nature of this track, contrasted with the positive instrumentation reminds me of a song ironically titled “Seventy Times 7” released in 2001 by the alternative rock band, Brand New. At the end of Whack’s chorus, she says, “I hope your ass breaks out in a rash, You remind me of my deadbeat dad”. In Brand New’s track, they say, “And you can think of me when you forget your seatbelt, And again when your head goes through the windshield”. Both artists wish ill will on someone that wronged them while empowering themselves. Whack places this track in the middle of Whack World and wastes no time getting the the point she is making with the title of this track.
“Silly Sam” has layers on layers of meaning in all of the lines. The references to specific games obviously are parallels with the difficulties of navigating the complexities of a relationship. The line, “Patty cake, Patty Cake, fuck Patty, Patty fake” could be a reference the 2017 film Patti Cake$. The film dramatizes an overweight white woman seeking fame and fortune as a rapper. Whack could be expressing her discontent with the unrealistic plotline of the film, critiquing it as a female rapper. The references she is making to a variety of games in relation to “Silly Sam” could be her expressing her complex experiences with Uncle Sam. Whack could be drawing a parallel between the government and the complexities of societal constructs that she has to deal with as a woman of color. The bridge lines, “If you play your cards right, it’ll be alright and if you don’t you’re in Trouble for Life” leads me to believe the ladder is the critique she is presenting.
Whack addresses the expectations she feels is being placed on her in the track “Fruit Salad”. Visually she is working out in a gym, drawing the connection between how expectations make her feel like she has to work to obtain a seemingly unattainable image. She presents her feelings about this forthright with the first line, “Worry ‘bout yourself and don’t worry about nobody”. This idea continues in the next track, “Pretty Ugly”. The main line in the track is, “ Don’t worry ‘bout me, I’m doing good, I’m doing great, alright” continuing the ideas in the previous track and referencing ideas in previous tracks on Whack World. The juxtaposition in the title alone carries the weight of awareness and critique Whack is presenting in the track. Whack nods both Swizz Beatz and Michael Jackson in this track. This could be comparison but reads more as a nod to inspirations. Visually Whack is in a room full of dozens of magnifying glasses, expressing the feeling that she is under a magnifying glass as she creates work.
There is a hard cut off into the next track, “Sore Loser”. This track goes back to the relational struggles that Whack discusses in “Flea Market”, “Cable Guy”, and “Fuck Off”. Depicting herself in a coffin for this track, Whack expresses both visually and lyrically the death of this relationship. She says, “Ex dead if you ask me, So, please don’t ask me”. Whack is clear and direct with this track, not trying to be clever with layers of meaning. Playing off the commonly used line, “you’re dead to me”, She could not be more clear with her feeling. However, in her Whack World way, she references the on again, off again relationship between Diddy and Cassie. She’s aware of the death of this relationship, but somehow is still holding out hope.
Whack gets heavy in the next track, “Dr. Suess” addressing her desire to leave a legacy while critiquing the system of stardom that creates big names in hip-hop. With the line, “Me, I’m trying to sell a bit, relevant (not hard to say but)”, she is presenting a critique of fame through a double-entendre: ‘sell out’. By implying artists have gained a large enough following that exceeds ticket quantities but, their rise to fame has lead to a ‘sell out’ meaning they’ve abandoned their values and identities. With the line, “Think less about living and more about dying” Whack expresses the extremely self-aware and relatable idea that goes back to the title of the song. I think she is saying that she wants to make an impact large enough that after she is gone her work is still relevant, like Dr. Suess. Visually, Whack takes up the interior of a house and raps this track from an attic window.
As we transition to the final track, “Waze”, A painting of the house in “Dr. Suess” can be seen on the wall in the final set. Oozing out of the same attic window of the house is an unknown foam-like substance. Whack gets sentimental in the last track opening with, “I was lost ’til I found my way”, expressing that Whack World was part of her finding her way in the world as an artist. Whack wraps up the album with the line, “They cannot take away what I worked for, I know that I am worth mo-o-o-ore”. She lays out that no one can take what she has worked for and she knows that there is more.
Tierra Whack presents a snapshot of herself as an artist through Whack World. The record addresses a broad range of issues that are pressing the genre nowadays. She wastes no time making her point in these one-minute tracks. The presentation alone of this album is enough o commend her. But, she has taken on a large task critiquing the genre while also attempting to be successful at breaking into the genre. Whack’s self-awareness in this record is what sets it apart as a conceptual album. She has set the bar very high for herself and I am excited to she what will come next from her.
