I'm pretty uneducated about rap, but I go on a binge every so often, mostly of female rappers. Today I want to share one of my favorites.
Glorilla is from Memphis, Tennessee, and is primarily known for her party jams. She has released several EPs and mixtapes and finally last year her first proper album, Glorious, which is nominated for a Grammy for best rap album.
I find her charming for a bunch of reasons:
- Distinctive husky voice and a thick, delightful accent. (I love how many syllables she can put into "ass.")
- Smiley and doesn't take herself too seriously. She always comes across like she's having fun.
- Raps about a wide variety of topics in a wide variety of emotional registers. I appreciate the mix of bravado and vulnerability.
- Loves her female friends. Has them in her videos, does songs with them, does songs about them, mentions them casually in songs.
- She's also just very hot, okay. (See:
Special)
Most of all, she feels effortlessly genuine. At no point does she come across like she's trying to be anyone other than who she is.
Some personal fave tracks of mine:
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TGIF,
Tomorrow 2 (ft her cousin Cardi B), and
F.N.F. As I said, her biggest songs are her party jams, and these are the best ones IMO. TGIF has a great beat that sounds almost apocalyptic, which makes perfect sense to me with the opening lines of
It's 7pm Friday / It's 95 degrees. You're right, if it's still that hot by 7 in the evening, that DOES feel like the world is ending, lol.
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Intro to her album Glorious. It's short but really captures that sense of genuineness I get from her.
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Accent by Megan Thee Stallion ft Glorilla. Again, doesn't take herself too seriously. "I throw an R in any word that got a U in it" is an accurate description of her accent. Incredible.
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Don't Deserve is Glorilla rapping about and to a friend whose boyfriend doesn't treat her well. I really like how this isn't just a "he's shit, hurry up and dump him" song, but has lines like
It's time to find yourself again, this n* got you lost / You can do it, friend, I know you can, my fingers crossed. There's a lot of empathy in it, along with the concern.
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Wrong One, a collab with Glorilla and four other female rappers. Another one where it feels like everyone's having a good time, and gave me some more female rappers to look up. The music video is delightful.