Self-described "number one female rapper in Atlanta" Bali Baby has proven herself as one of rap's most exciting new voices through short blasts of attitude and charisma like "Iggady" and "Pretty," but on her more recent releases, she's been making an effort to expand her repertoire. "Yall said i have the “ same flow “ & “ sounded the same “ on all my songs SOOOO I completely switch it up now yall want the old me back LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," she wrote on Twitter earlier this month after dropping her moodier more melodic Bali Blanco EP. With "Backseat" off her upcoming Baylor Swift project, she's given fans yet another curveball, incorporating the sounds of pop punk into her confrontational rap style for a jarring but ultimately successful fusion of sounds. Of all the rock-influenced rap that's been emerging over the last year, Bali's is the only one that legitimately has the post-Rebirth sound people have ascribed to the recent genre experiments. Using all the tools that Wayne did on the album, down to a similar auto-tuned snarl, Bali is able to pull off the sound convincingly in a way Wayne did not. It's unclear how much of her new album will travel in this direction, and while it could be promising, we're still hoping to hear some more of that "same flow" Bali referenced in her tweet. It hasn't gotten close to old yet.
Baylor Swift is due out May 8th.
Quotable Lyrics:
I tell her hit my phone
Whenever I’m alone
She say she like my ton
I tell her baby we drunk
Tell her baby come home
Can’t wait to get you alone
Oh, oh, I cannot walk outside
Because I am known
I put my headphones on
Now I’m in my zone
Cannot trust these bitches
They are some clones
They tuning in like I’m an episode