Up and coming is alternative R&B/ Hip Hop artist Tierra Whack, whose debut audio-visual album Whack World draws inspiration from various eccentric figures in the art industry including Dr. Seuss and Austin Powers amongst others. Whack World features fifteen songs all spanning one minute or less that are accompanied by a visual element. By creating a collection of ‘snippets’, Whack effectively captures and holds her audience’s attention for the entirety of the album and debuted her corresponding videos through IGTV on Instagram.
Each song serves as a bold and individual statement titled with names such as: “Hungry Hippo”, “Pretty Ugly”, and “Fruit Salad”. Whack does not by any means conform to the music industry’s standards and in particular, to the music industry’s expectations of women in the Hip/Hop, R&B, and Rap industries. To me, her music transgresses the bounds and limitations of genre, creating an album that is genre-fluid. Her lyrics simultaneously talk about nothing and everything and in accompaniment with the unique beats she uses, she devises her own ‘whack world’. In “Pretty Ugly”, Whack states her mind in a manner that exudes confidence, declaring that her “flow so mean, [she] just can’t be polite” whilst posing in a mirror that distorts her facial features. In “Fruit Salad” she discusses themes surrounding body positivity, and the importance of celebrating individuality while making a farce out of exercising:
Worry ’bout yourself and don’t worry about nobody
Drinking’ water, eatin’ fruits takin’ care of my body
When you doin’ good they want kick it just like Karate
Stealin’ swag I know they mad, they tried to rob me
They tried to rob me
They can’t deny me
You can’t define me
Don’t need no ID
They wanna rob me
They can’t deny me
You can’t define me
I don’t need nobody
I did, I did, I did, (I eat all my vegetables)
I did, I did, I did, (lower my cholesterol)
I did, I did, I did, (that fast food just makes you slow)
I did, I did, I did, (lower my cholesterol)
I did, I did, I did, (I ate all my vegetables)
I did, I did, I did, (I just had to let you know)
They wanna to rob me (I did, I did, I did) (That fast food makes you slow)
They cannot deny me (I did, I did, I did) (I just had to let you know)
You cannot define me (I did, I did, I did)
Complete with bright colors and a free verse poetical tone to the lyrics, Whack World screams bold, unique, and non-coforming. Whack World by Tierra Whack is available for streaming on: Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, iHeart Radio, Play Music, and YouTube.