Glorilla is Good For Rap.
Glorilla brings a balance rap needs.
Rap is a global phenomenon that touches every continent and affects the sound of every genre. More accessible than before, it’s grown to unprecedented levels partly due to viral videos on platforms like Tik Tok which now guide the decisions of tastemakers and record labels. Black women like Megan the Stallion, Cardi B, and Doja Cat are at the center of rap’s success, creating waves that affect the world.
But on the other side of the spectrum are female rappers whose sound caters to the aggressive and equally empowering side of female power. Rappers like Glorilla, who came on the scene this year with the anthem, “FNF”, cater to the needs of women who are beautiful and still gangster without compromising their definition of femininity. It’s necessary for rap.
Female emcees have played a pivotal role in rap since its origin. Roxanne Shante, the first female rap star introduced one of rap’s most pivotal diss songs into the culture with “Roxanne’s Revenge” at the age of 14. A decade later, a slew of female artists from Queen Latifah to Da Brat entered rap, bringing in their element of lyricism. But in the end, Lil Kim’s 1996 album, Hard Core, proved to be the influential project that would determine the direction of rap.
Impactful, it shifted the approach female emcees took toward rapping and branding. In the South, Memphis and New Orleans introduced the world to rappers like Mia X, La Chat, and Gangsta Boo, who were attractive and aggressive. Fast forward almost twenty years later and you have a new crop of emcees like Jucee Froot and GloRilla, building on the blueprint of women who came before them.
GloRilla’s voice generates a fair amount of attention, but her content and approach are what keep her at the top of the game. Her video for FNF took over primarily because of how abrasive and honest it was. She wasn’t trying to be the sexiest female on screen despite being beautiful. Instead, she was trying to give women an anthem, something that they could champion that paid homage to their desire to want to turn up and get crunk as well. Biggest of all, GloRilla’s choice to feature her friends, many of whom also rapped on the Memphis scene, shows a rare unity that’s missing in rap with female emcees.
A year earlier, GloRilla teamed up with Slimeroni, K Carbon, Gloss Up, and Aleza, dropping several songs online to showcase their skills. Together they have become collective stars. Not long after Glorilla got her deal with Yo Gotti’s CMG label, fellow rap affiliate Gloss Up got her deal with Atlanta label QC, joining a roster of talented emcees like Lakeeyah and the City Girls. Because of how competitive rap is, we rarely see an artist debut these days and become famous with her friends in the video, but that is another testament to GloRilla’s energy. Even more, she carried on the tradition again with her equally powerful follow-up, “Tomorrow”, which brought everyone back for a second dose. Ask yourself, when was the last time you saw a group of girls rapping this well together?
GloRilla’s authenticity and commitment to embracing all the parts of herself that make people uncomfortable from her voice to her body are inspiring for rap fans who want to see a powerful woman unbought and unbossed. She’s not concerned with whether we think she looks like anyone else. She’s concerned with telling her story and showing that women are often more gangster and principled than their male counterparts. In a time where we see artists become more and more concerned with saying and doing the right thing for cameras, it’s refreshing to see hunger, grit, and truth still simmering in someone.