In 2018, Tierra Whack hit the music world like a comet. Her visual album Whack World introduced the Philadelphian as a polymath of epic proportions. Echoing expansive personalities such as Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott, Whack was instantly heralded as rap’s next big thing.
With sharp bars, a knack for catchy hooks and a singular visual style, she ticked all the boxes and more. And then, maddeningly, she vanished like an apparition. The years ticked by and no proper full-length album came. There were drips of singles, EPs and guest spots, but no true follow-through on the promise teased by her white-hot yet fleeting opening act.
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Enter: WORLD WIDE WHACK, the 28-year-old’s official debut album. Second single “27 CLUB” hints at why Whack took six years to follow up Whack World: “Lookin’ for somethin’ to commit to/ Suicide,” she croons on the infectious hook, which Whack confirmed as autobiographical in a recent interview. The album is littered with allusions to Whack’s mental health struggles, but it never feels overbearing, owing to Whack’s ability to balance darkness with her trademark wit and playfulness.
The album traces Tierra Whack’s psyche, from troubled and gloomy to goofy and buoyant; discordant emotions frequently make themselves heard across the album’s 15 tracks. Braggadocios bars co-exists with deep self-doubt, while joy shares a bunk with hopelessness on Whack’s expansive emotional palette. “Pull up in a Bentley truck/ You pulled up in a lil’-ass Beetle,” Whack proclaims on “CHANEL PIT.” On “NUMB,” one track later, Whack hints at the despair lurking beneath the boasts: “My wounds are still open/ Lost control of my emotions/ Devil keep on provokin’/ My joy has been stolen.”
Like a rap Jerry Seinfeld, Whack mines day-to-day minutiae for sharp observations about her internal world and her external environment. She alternates between plumbing the depths of her soul with unflinching honesty and addressing universal truths. Whack admits to feeling overwhelmed by life (“Living is difficult“), but also appreciative of its small joys (“Soap and water give me powers“).
Whack’s paint-splattered world is scored by equally colorful production, courtesy of a tight circle of longtime collaborators, primarily J Melodic, ProdbyBRIANNA and Nick Verruto. The beats range from digital clicks and whirs to militant drums and dreamlike swirls. The tempo sags a bit on tracks like “ACCESSIBLE” and “INVITATION,” but the beats mostly equal Whack’s playful and intimate probes into the deepest corners of her mind.
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The penultimate track, “TWO NIGHT,” distills Tierra Whack’s talent perfectly. Her humor, levity and emotional depth are on full display: “My last meal might be chicken and fries/ I’m Black so you should not be surprised … Everybody dies, you live and you die,” she raps, over an instrumental that sounds like something Alice might have heard as she tumbled down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.
During a time of algorithm-induced sameness, Whack pushes herself and her collaborators to find fresh concepts, flows and sounds. She reflects the human experience in tidy, Technicolor parcels. Whether staring down a neverending well of despair or overconfidently singing in the shower, WWW shines brightest when Whack brings her otherworldly talent to relatable everyday struggles.
RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2024
RECORD LABEL: Interscope
Listen to WORLD WIDE WHACK below:
