Any video that starts with elaborate nail art is likely a good fit for The Glow Up, so we have to thank commenter “Monkeypox0104” for suggesting this week’s Anthem of the Week, Tierra Whack’s 15-minute audiovisual medley “Whack World.”
Born from the rapper-singer’s series of one-minute Instagram shorts directed by Thibaut Duverneix and Mathieu Léger, the mini-movie guides us through a sampling of Whack’s sounds as she changes outfits and scenes with each track and plays out each song title in surreal detail.
It’s at turns delightful, disturbing and pretty dope to watch, and we have to agree with the Philadelphia Inquirer writer who saw Whack perform at the 2018 Roots Picnic on June 2: “She has style and swagger to spare.”
But what we might love most about Whack’s quirky brand of #BlackGirlMagic is that she’s not afraid of #BlackGirlWeirdness. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the type of marketing we’re used to seeing from female performers and almost subliminally suggests that we should consider Whack an artist from jump.