Jazmine Sullivan ft H.E.R. - Girl Like Me
“Girl Like Me” features on Jazmine Sullivan’s newly released Album “Heaux Tales” which is her 4th studio album. This project perfectly depicts the intricacies of modern day relationships from a woman's perspective and champions the owning of these stories. She describes the album as “my observation of today’s women standing in their power and owning who they are. We are multi-faceted and shouldn’t be defined by any one thing. We all have a journey to make and it’s our choice alone how we get there”. The tracks within the album are intersped with personal accounts of varying scenarios women happened to find themselves in ; and this allowed themes such as Infidelity , Lust and Financial Independence to be explored.
The song itself touches on many themes, the most prevalent being unrequited love where Jazmine Sullivan can be seen to state “Knew it was real when you blocked me / Now I sit at home judgin' my body / Wondering what I did to lose you (What I did to lose you) / Why in the hell you ain't choose me?” this alluding to ideas of her heavily internalising the concept of mutual infatuation to such an extent that it can be seen to compromise her own personality and how she views herself ; and this is evident when she later states “And I ain't wanna be / But you gon' make a hoe out of me”.
The production of the song is very simple which increases the emotiveness of the message on display with the leading guitar melody being played over subtle percussions. The lack of interference with regards to production does really allow for the vocal prowesses of both Jazmine Sullivan and H.E.R. to stand out. The song's crescendo definitely comes in the 2nd half of the track where Jazmine Sullivan and H.E.R. can be heard going back to back in increasing vocal ranges.
Saweetie ft Doja Cat - Best Friend
“Best Friend” follows the increasing trend of high profile female rap collabs; this has
seen the explosion of the song “WAP” come into force alongside the remix of the chart-hit “Say So” which features Nicki Minaj alongside the tracks creator Doja Cat. For Saweetie this follows a recent collaboration with Jhené Aiko for the track “Back to the Streets”. Saweetie is also currently readying her debut album "Pretty B*tch Music". In Doja Cat’s case this track follows a very successful 2020 for her which saw the song “Say So” capture the imagination of the masses and it forms the prelude for what is already a highly anticipated album scheduled to be released this year titled “Planet Her”.
The song is a tangible embodiment of what championing your Best Friend looks like. Female independence and financial security are particular themes that are explored almost from the onset when Doja Cat states “That my best friend, she a real bad bitch / Got her own money, she don't need no nig'”. Sonically this track perfectly combines an ever present electric guitar synth melody with an 808 drum pattern and trap hi hats to fully embody the energy and vibrancy Saweetie and Doja Cat highlight to be present within friendship.
Nao ft Adekunle Gold - Antidote
Nao and Adekunle Gold came together to create the track “Antidote”. This is the first collaboration between the two artists and it was born out of the shared experience of childbirth in both their respective families. Nao went on to say '“Antidote” is the remedy to 2020; it’s a song born out of lockdown which was something that affected everybody’s lives all over the world. Both Adekunle and I had daughters born weeks apart during this time, they lifted our vibrations and we wanted to share that good energy with the rest of the world'.
The track is very deliberate in the conveying of this message as from the outset Adekunle Gold states “You take the sun with you when you leave the room / It’s incredible, I put you on a pedestal / I mean all your magical / You are special / You came in my life is a miracle”. Here he carefully articulates the wonders of newborn children and emphasises how special this child is by showering her with compliments. The production of this song features a mid-tempo Afrobeat groove fused together with some pop elements to perfectly personify the elation attributed to the beauty of new life.