The first impression is important.
What do you notice first when you buy new clothes, online or in stores? Design and appearance. Then, you’ll check the material and fit. You pay attention to beautiful art and then delve into the details behind it. When you meet with your new dates, you’ll initially focus on their appearance before getting to know their personality.
Music has the same principle, especially album covers. They serve as the initial direct representation of the album as a product, regardless of the era, be it the digital era or the era of record stores. In the past, when music fans would sift through numerous CDs or vinyl records in record stores to discover new or unfamiliar artists, the artwork on album covers played a crucial role in capturing their initial attention. In today’s digital age, music can be accessed and enjoyed through various platforms like YouTube, social media, online radio, and digital advertisements, where album covers may not be immediately visible. However, album covers continue to hold significance in grabbing the initial attention of listeners before they delve into the music itself. They play a role in stimulating curiosity and setting the aesthetic for the musical experience that lies within the album. Despite the shift in how music is consumed, album covers remain an important visual element in the overall presentation and promotion of an artist or their music.
My opinion is good album covers tend to have good music inside.
Sexyy Red’s sophomore album, Hood Hottest Princess, is a good example. Ratchet or what.
The raunchy pose and outfit, the bright red color matching with the national flag bra, the choice of blond wig, and the sense of placing the Parental Advisory label on, um, her private area instantly capture attention on the provocative cover, distinguishing it from dozens of other new releases. It’s controversial yet unforgettable. The choice of font type, font size, and color further contribute to its visually impressive impact, much like Sexyy’s shocking pose. The album cover is simple yet well-designed, effectively conveying the album’s theme. With its vivid impression, Sexyy Red emerges as the winner in the first round of the game. While the album cover may have a hood aesthetic, it doesn’t imply that it’s of low quality. Good design is good design. This album cover has become an iconic representation of hip-hop equivalent to Juvenile’s 2006 album, Reality Check.
Sexyy Red’s music and quality are reflected in the album cover as well. Her rapping style is raunchy yet catchy like her pose and bold like the font type. Her voice carries power, without being excessively thick, and echoes well. This advantage allows her, as a female rapper, to impress with her aggression. Sexyy Red’s formidable rapping skills would not be overshadowed by guest artists like Nicki Minaj, Sukihana, or other emerging female rappers.
Sexyy Red’s greatest strength lies in her ability to express herself through her voice. She adapts her rapping style to suit different songs. In the first track, “I’m the Shit,” she embraces a more Southern hood style, reflecting her St. Louis roots where the Midwest meets the South. Sexyy’s “muddy” rap style successfully captures the gritty essence of the lyrics—a daring attempt to steal more men from other women without giving a fuck. In contrast, the next “SkeeYee” (Urban Dictionary: “used to call a fine hoe when driving down the street”) expresses the ghetto glamour with her fearless higher voice. Sexyy’s voice is fiercely raw with “Pound Town 2” in contrast with Nicki Minaj. Nicki raps “Aye-yo, Red, my name is Pink”, but the real contrast is brown-pink. Personally, I particularly like her styles on the last two songs, “Born By the River” and “Female Gucci Mane.” In “Born By the River,” despite the song revolving around a typical portrayal of the “prostitute” life, I sense hidden anger and emotion in her voice, which intensifies as the song progresses. With “Female Gucci Mane,” I enjoy her provocative style as she flaunts her luminous possessions over dynamic, energetic beats. Sexyy’s down-to-earth rapping skills make her portrayal of street life more authentic and contribute significantly to the album’s overall enjoyability. This sets her apart from many of the new releases from the hip-hop scene.
The album successfully showcases a range of Sexyy’s rapping styles, bringing variation despite the consistent background style throughout the songs. Being more ghetto-oriented distinguished from the country-grammar fellow St. Louis hip-hop pioneers such as Nelly, Chingy, and J-Kwon created, the album is more underground and hardcore compared with her first album (mixtape?) Ghetto Superstar in 2021 which was more pop and had more variations. Hood Hottest Princess expresses a more notorious urban hood life darker than “country glamour”. In this case, the repetition of the same pattern and tone in the background music successfully amplifies the album’s notorious atmosphere. However, it would have been preferable for the background to exhibit more dynamism and variety to enhance Sexyy’s powerful performances. The consistent use of the same equipment or sound resulted in a sense of budget limitations. For instance, in the song “Nachoes”, despite Sexyy’s upbeat voice, the flat and repetitive background sound diminished its potential impact and prevented it from becoming another hit like “Pound Town 2.” It would have been ideal to have a stronger boost and catchiness (not meaning pop) like “Female Gucci Mane.” An indie album, yes. But the previous release demonstrated better background performance while still being underground.
One aspect that compensates for the concerns about the flat background is the flawless track order, in addition to Sexyy’s commanding presence and the quality of the songs. The gripping opening and dynamic ending (“Born By the River” and “Female Gucci Mane”) contribute to the overall cohesiveness of the album. It’s particularly favorable that only 11 songs were selected, deviating from the prevailing trend in hip-hop to include as many songs as possible. This allows listeners to concentrate more on the album, as having a large number of songs (such as 20) often leads to tremendous boredom, in my opinion. Hood Hottest Princess is still the heavy rotation from my speaker.
OVERALL POINTS: 87/100
- Songs: ★★★★+1/2
- Originality: ★★★★★
- Thrills: ★★★★★
- Song orders: ★★★★★
- Vocal: ★★★★+3/4
- Background: ★★★+1/4
- Sound: ★★★+3/4
- Production: ★★★+1/2
- Strong songs: “I’m the Shit”, “SkeeYee”, “Strictly for the Strippers”, “Mad at Me”, “Born By the River”, “Female Gucci Mane”
EXTRA (NOT COUNTED TOWARD THE OVERALL POINTS)
- Title: A
- Album cover: A+
RELEASE DATE (US): 06/09/2023
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