It's a solid fact that all of the best hip-hop shows this writer has been to over the past year have featured all-female bills. "Female rap" isn't a genre, and we're not going to patronize anyone. But this is indeed a golden period, and the women are killing it.
From Doja Cat and Baby Tate to Flo Milli and Bia, with openers including Doechii, Maya the Don and Lakeyah -- every single show has felt like an event, and on Saturday night TiaCorine, A.R. The Mermaid and BbyAfricka continued the trend with another gig that was gold from start to finish.
The pride of Inglewood, BbyAfricka, opened the show and didn't stop moving throughout. "He loves me 'cos I'm model-skinny and I'm bad and rude," she purrs on the freaking magnificent "Baton Rouge," while proving all of those things to be true. BbyAfricka takes no shit.
Memphis' A.R. The Mermaid is next -- a blur of fine rhymes delivered with her trademark drawl. A.R. is a phenomenon and one of the hottest rappers on the scene right now. She is as close to a magical figure as we have in real-life hip-hop. She’s entering the scene on a wave of positivity, joy and color. She might stick out her tongue and flip the bird, but she’s doing it with a wink and a smile, and it’s easy to get on board with that air of gleeful anarchy. At the Echoplex, we got all that and "Watt We Doingg" was a standout.
North Carolina's TiaCorine headlined, as she celebrates the release of her latest EP Almost There, her first major release since her full length I Can't Wait in 2022. In between guest appearances by a few friends including influencer Aliyah's Interlude, TiaCorinne thrilled the Echoplex crowd with a set of razor sharp tunes including "Pancakes" and a handful from the new extended play.
The crowd was well up for it, the DJs popping, and the Echoplex essentially exploded in a tornado of hip-hop joy. Three strong, talented, female rappers, one awesome evening.
