
New York City rapper, singer/songwriter & actress Princess Nokia following up her double sophomore effort Everything Sucks, Everything’s Beautiful with her 3rd studio LP. Introducing herself off the full-length debut Metallic Butterfly over a decade ago, her expanded 1992 extended play following her debut mixtape Honeysuckle broke her out into stardom & her 2nd EP A Girl Who Cried Red was a disappointing look at her emo influences. Everything Sucks, Everything’s Beautiful left people divided & her 4th EP I Love You, But This is Goodbye under Arista Records after Magnolia wasn’t any better. I was however optimistic going into Girls since it’s been a minute.
After the “Girl FM” intro, the first song “Blue Velvet” is a somber boom bap opener calling out her abusers/rapists whereas “Medusa” embraces an industrial trap metal vibe likening herself to the Gorgon known beyond Greek mythology. “Period Blood” awkwardly talks about finding something sexy regarding menstruation & her autism making her tick, which I as an autistic person myself never knew she had.
“Matcha Cherry” embraces a heavy pop rap sound for an ode to femininity just before “Drop Dead Gorgeous” blends electropop, dance-pop, electro hop, midtempo bass & pop rap to finish the 1st half of Girls talking about her preference in women who like scream queen & are beauty pageant killers. “Gossip Girl” references The CW’s teen drama series of the same name taking shots at other females who tend to be trash while “Beach Babe” hangs out by the pool desiring to be a mermaid.
The self-produced “Pink Bronco” sings about being fed up with trying to survive & wanting to take the soft girl life easy over some violins after another “Girl FM” interlude, “Phoebe Philo” gives her flowers to the English-French fashion designer of the same name who launched her own quiet luxury brand 24 months ago. “Art Star” closes Nokia’s comeback with a minimalistic hip hop approach talking about finally understanding herself & her process.
Celebrating this new phase of her life, Princess Nokia honors the part of her that always had her own things by making the newest entry in her discography Girls the most gratifying piece of music I’ve heard from her in quite some time because of it’s presentation as this perspectively unique guidebook of living a fulfilling life portraying the realistic duality of girlhood it be the highs of hanging out with all of her friends besides her or the lows of predators & the rise of misogyny.
Score: 4/5
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