Released May 30, 2018
7.5 / 10
Favorites
Hookers, Hungry Hippo, Pet Cemetery, Fuck Off, Silly Sam, Dr Seuss
Least favorites
Flea Market
Philly artist Tierra Whack delivers a snapshot of her inner monologues in her debut album "Whack World" which dropped on May 30, 2018. The project was purposed as an audiovisual experience with one music video per track, each claiming a piece of Tierra's world. First posted on Instagram - whose one minute video format suited the one minute tracks that make up the album -, "Whack World" was configured to cater to the social media universe that has by and large engulfed both our time and the bulk of our attention. Aware of her own short attention span, Tierra didn't want to put out an LP that people wouldn't go through in its full extent and dig in with the attention she felt her piece deserved. The scheme she chose gives her the opportunity to get to the point quickly and with concision; and I'm happy to report she rose to the occasion, tapping into my curiosity without leaving me feeling cheated. The result is a fifteen minute long (short?) debut in which no track is a bad one. Tierra paints vivid pictures and erases them in the same stroke, trusting herself to make contrasts and colors stick long after the songs are over. On "Whack World", Tierra can't sit still for more than one minute. She needs to morph herself into different forms, making different genres her own and eager to move on as soon as she feels like she gets her point across. She floats somewhere between R'n'B, dream pop and booming trap, even trying on a (her) twist on country to see if it fits in Fuck Off - and even that she manages to make her own. Country music in Whack's World is not concerned with the stereotypes that plague the image of the genre - especially outside of the US -, instead serving space cowboy - coincidentally also the name of a Kacey Musgraves on beautiful "Golden Hour" - in a playpen. Fuck Off also demonstrates Tierra's recurrent use of her voice and intonations as an indispensable storytelling instrument, their alterations aplenty throughout "Whack World". It's hard to picture the juxtaposition of such a track with others like Flea Market, your very typical smooth R'n'B groove both sonically and thematically, or neighboring track Pet Cemetery, ending in a gospel-like chant celebrating Tierra's dog sending to heaven - more on that later. Yet these all co-exist in Whack's World and none sounds out of place. "Whack World" truly is a rollercoaster of moods and emotions; after all, what world would be complete without grief, joy, frustration, love and goofiness? Bluesy Silly Sam is a both a playful Nintendo tune and a threat to whoever Sam is, who is playing games both literally and figuratively in Tierra's universe; Fruit Salad is more of a self-care anthem, featuring layered vocals, rough jungle-like 808s and church synth-organs; nearly each room in "Whack World" has something different to offer. Tierra Whack is unquestionably an artist of contrasts. She uses all the colors at her disposal to paint strikingly chromatic images of her very own funhouse. She plays with double entendres again and again, mixing the literal with a figurative she depicts with great care. In Bugs Life, she refers to unwelcome attention and leeches in her entourage as bugs, impressing with her cadence and taunting them with 808s that ring a bit too scratchy for my taste. She doesn't dwell on the negatives for too long and balances it out on the same track by mentioning her blessings many a time ("Loving all my peoples, dollar signs, yeah, I need those"). 4 Wings is the scene of Tierra eating out, again punctuated by rougher beats than probably ought to be but it goes far and beyond that scene by addressing a heartbreaking loss. If Whack's world is as colorful as it is, it's also because it's deeply entrenched in childhood memories - a simpler time when everything seemed bigger, brighter. When you think about it, contrasts are how we are taught nuances at a young age, through oppositions and differences. Through her play of contrasting shades of her sound, Tierra plays with nuance. It could sometimes feel like a gimmick: mumbling her way through a verse on a song after her favorite childhood game (Hungry Hippo), cursing someone out to a kiddy bop sound on Fuck Off or warping her voice continuously on Dr. Seuss as to speak as both a toddler and tap into a menacingly low register on the same 30s half of the track; these could all seem like distractions from the real Tierra. Yet these choices seem so characteristic of her world when taken in the context of the album. They're not the driving force of her sound nor should they be. They're part of the package, they're part of this slightly absurd inner world. Though playful, "Whack World" is not just silly for the sake of silliness. Instead it uses innocence and juvenility to explore darker themes. Whack's world needs its share of grief and pain to appreciate the happy and healing times. Her penchant for finding obscurity in the frivolous is particularly salient on 4 Wings and Pet Cemetery, two tracks that pay tribute to fellow Philly rapper Hulitho, killed in a drive-by in 2017. The fast-food scene depicted in 4 Wings serves as a frame for the commemoration of her friend and a deeper look at what matters most. And in true Whack fashion, Pet Cemetery plays with the figurative and the literal as she celebrates her dog (dawg?)'s send-off to heaven. This sort of upbeat eulogy ends beautifully with a stripped down church choir and animal noises sealing off the duo. On a perhaps more subtle note, Hookers sees Tierra slurring to a grooving synth-led instrumental that has a nonchalance that intentionally clashes with the lyrical frustration laid bare ("I'm tired of trying love", "Money won't make me stay"). Tierra is definitely not here for sugar daddies. Finally, the track most illustrative of her ability to use playfulness to convey diametrically opposite emotions has to be Fuck Off. She uses chirping electronics and plays with modulations of her voice to vent and curse out someone. And it doesn't soften the blow, "You remind me of my deadbeat dad" sounds as bad if not worse when accompanied by nursery rhyme melodies. Not long after the first track kicks off, the last one takes over, soulful and boasting acknowledgement of self-worth and hard work. Waze wraps up the album and closes the door behind its whack world. On the whole, "Whack World" strikes as being a sincere expression of Tierra's inner discourse, unbothered by stereotypes of what a rap artist can and should do.
Favorite lyrics
"You ever laugh just to keep from crying Think less about living and more about dying"
Dr. Seuss
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