New York rapper Destiny Frasqueriâs rise has been more measured than meteoric. Thatâs partly because sheâs spent the past decade dabbling in various projects and indulging every facet of her personality and musical taste. She has performed under three monikers (Wavy Spice, Destiny and her current stage name). She made her feature film debut in 2019âs Angelfish, a wistful coming-of-age story set in the Bronx. Sheâs not signed to a label, and her musical output is testament to this. Her back catalogue leaps from genre to genre and back with complete disregard for the concept of âpersonal brandingâ.
Early releases, such as 2012âs âPoshâ, were inspired by the New York Ball scene. On her first album, 2017âs â1992 Deluxeâ, she began to hone her unique style of hip-hop, taking spirituality, femininity and Afrocentrism in her stride. Her 2018 mixtape, âA Girl Cried Redâ, meanwhile, was unashamedly emo. Itâs safe to say that weâve come to expect contradictions and curveballs from Princess Nokia.
In many ways, her latest musical offerings live up to this reputation. Princess Nokia surprise-released two albums this week, âEverything Is Beautifulâ and âEverything Sucksââ an ode to her Gemini dualities. The former is a representation of her sensitive side, all hip-hop, neo-soul and head bopping. The later is dark: a trappy, subby, ravey 10-track rage against the machine.
There are moments of brilliance on both records. âEverything is Beautifulâ tracks âSunday Bestâ, âOnyx Collectionâ and âOshunâ provide sweet relief above a staccato bassline (if you burn sage, now is the time to do so). Here, and on Soul Food y Adobo, she is full-on Nuyorican (a portmanteau of âNew Yorkâ and âPuerto Ricanâ), her verses interspersed with Spanish and references to Latin American culture. On âGeminiâ, Princess Nokia sinks deep into the track with her signature low register. It also features a pleasing hat-tip to The Doors track âRiders On The Stormâ, a phrase she mumbles throughout.
Where â1992âŠâ was fresh and distinctly Princess Nokia, though, âEverything is Beautifulâ feels a bit like a playlist of her favourite artists. On âWash and Setâ, she channels the US R&B singer Abraâs lazy, reticent vocal style, while âGreen Eggs and Hamâ could have easily been lifted from a Noname or Chance the Rapper album. The latter track is big on â90s nostalgia: she references the drink Sunny Delight (âorange and sunâ) and the music video was inspired by the 1996 film Matilda. âBlessingsâ, too, is all Chance in subject matter. A collaboration with the Grammy nominated producer Terrace Martin, best known for his work with Kendrick Lamar, it feels buoyant, simplistic and hopeful, like a hazy Sunday morning.
âEverything Sucksâ, on the other hand, was written in the space of a week â and it shows. The first three tracks, ‘Harley Quinnâ, âCrazy Houseâ and âWelcome to the Circusâ , transport listeners into a creepy funhouse. The result is shouty, often lyrically mediocre and at times hard to listen to. On the opening song, she yells âfuck youâ for 10 seconds straight.
Nokia eases up on track five. âFee Fi Foeâ is a pacy rap number on which she practises some good old hip-hop bravado over heavy bass and pan pipes. âBalenciagaâ is the standout track here, a tongue-in-cheek bop first released last November, on which she extols the virtues of vintage fashion over designer wear. âSketchers looking like Balenciaga / Thrift clothes looking like theyâre Prada / Whole fit lit it cost me nadaâ she raps in croaky tones.
Thematically, âEverything Sucksâ and âEverything is Beautifulâ fail to deliver anything new. They have all the hallmarks of a Princess Nokia record â female empowerment, introspective monologues about her childhood and Bruja spirituality (a type witchcraft practiced by some Latin American populations). On âPracticeâ, she continues to lament being an industry outsider, something sheâs been doing since day dot.
Musically, she is yet to develop a cohesive sound. ‘Everything Is Beautiful’ fails to match the hip-hop and neo-soul magic of â1992 Deluxeâ, while the rock and trap-influenced âEverything Sucksâ lacks the novelty factor of âA Girl Cried Redâ or the quirky charm of older tracks such as âGoth Kidâ. ‘Everything Sucks’ often feels a something like a musical patchwork quilt; all the sounds are stitched together but remain distinctly separate. Perhaps, given Princess Nokiaâs notoriously protean nature, this is the point of this whole project.
The post Princess Nokia â ‘Everything Is Beautiful’ & ‘Everything Sucks’ reviews: rapper spreads self thinly on two LPs appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.
