Tierra Whack delivered her highly innovative and critically acclaimed project Whack World in 2018. Released on Instagram, the album was comprised of short, one-minute songs that could fit into the space allotted for a singular Instagram video.
On Wednesday (November 18), the 25-year-old Philadephian returned to the fold with two new singles: “feel good” and “Peppers & Onions.” During a recent interview with Apple Music, Whack opened up about the concept behind “feel good” and the struggles COVID-19 has presented.
“We expect everybody to be happy,” she said. “All these good things were happening for me, but at the same time it was happening so fast I wasn’t able to take it all in. So I feel like everything is like a gift and a curse. With the quarantine and the lockdown and everything, I just feel like I really needed that time to just be still, sit down, think, reflect.
“I needed it. I really did need it. Like I said, it was scary, it was a roller coaster. I was up and down. I was sad, a little happy, happier, sad again, just up and down.”
Whack continued, “But like I said, I got to just reflect on everything that I had did prior, and I just was like, wow, I really need to be happier. I deserve to be happy. I should be happy. There’s no reason I should not be happy.
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“Because for a minute I was feeling like I just didn’t know what to feel. I was confused. I’m seeing everybody around me was excited and happy for me, but I didn’t feel happy inside, and I didn’t know why.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Whack talked about how this unprecedented year has been for her as a whole, admitting the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor really sent her into a funk.
“Honestly, at first it was kind of strange,” she admitted. “Got a little depressed, just seeing what’s going on in the world. We lost George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many other just beautiful people. I want to keep it all the way real, so I was sad for a minute, and I just, I was hurting. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to do, so I just was like just stay still, and I just let it all come to me.
Review: Tierra Whack's Audiovisual Journey Into "Whack World" Puts That Repeat Button To Work
“So for a while I wasn’t creative, I wasn’t being creative, I just was hurting. And then eventually the light shined through. Yeah, I mean, I’m in a way better space now. And of course I know things are still going on. The world is still going. The time never stops ticking. But this is the first interview I did, so it’s crazy, in a long time. I don’t even know how to … 2020. What do we really say, you know?”
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Whack managed to crawl of out of that hole and put her best foot forward with new material. Par for the course, both tracks are full of witty, introspective lyrics and an open invitation to Whack’s world.
Listen to “feel good” above and “Peppers & Onions” below.”
