Entertainment | October 22nd, 2024

From Memphis to Mainstream: GloRilla debuts Glorious

By: Jaedah Davis | Staff Writer

Memphis rapper GloRilla has established herself as one of the most promising new female rap voices. From her 2022 breakthrough hit “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” touring with fellow female rapper Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla has finally released her debut album Glorious.

For her debut album, GloRilla pulled out all the stops with a stacked feature list, showcasing a diverse range of artists, including Latto, Megan Thee Stallion, Sexyy Red, Muni Long, Kirk Franklin, Kierra Sheard, Fridayy, Bossman Dlow, T-Pain.

On Oct.11, Glorious dropped and earned 3.5 million streams in its first full day of release on Spotify.

As someone who prides themselves on anything music, I was most excited about the female features, and GloRilla did not disappoint.

Female Stardom

It’s no secret that women are running the rap game right now, being that they are all featured on this album. “Procedure” ft. Latto is such a girl anthem that deserves to be blasted while you get ready for a fun night out.

As for “Whatchu Kno About Me” ft Sexyy Red, this was an unexpected sample record. GloRilla sampled Boosie’s iconic “Wipe Me Down,” the HBCU anthem. “Whatchu Kno About Me” is accompanied by “Hollon,” the lead single, as two of the only tracks with a music video. Boosie was featured in the music video, and GloRilla and Sexyy Red showed his stamp of approval.

Now, for the unexpected rap duo to come out of this year’s “How I Look” ft Megan Thee Stallion, these two have been attached at the hip since the announcement of Megan’s “Hot Girl Summer” tour, where GloRilla was the opener. This song completes the trifecta of collabs these two now have. Can we expect a potential joint project from the two?

The Come Up

The Memphis rapper started with a strong intro as she talked about her come-up story, being the first lady of “Collective Music Group” (a music label founded by Yo Gotti), and even touched on her sobriety after her April arrest. GloRilla ends the track with her talking where she says, “I love criticism. You know what I’m sayin, learn from your mistakes and you do better.”

“Queen of Memphis” ft. Fridayy was a great way to close the album; while it was uplifting, GloRilla stayed true to her roots. I would love to hear more like this from her. Fridayy was the perfect feature for this track as he wrote a moving chorus that GloRilla could piggyback off of, “I done been through the worst, it brought the best out of me.” There is no debate about GloRilla being the queen of Memphis.

The Lost Recipe

We’re losing recipes in modern music, one of those recipes being rappers collaborating with gospel artists due to an uplifting song. Or singers no longer grew up in the church’s period.

That isn’t the case with GloRilla, who grew up in a church and used to sing in the choir when she was five years old.

“Rain Down on Me” ft. Kirk Franklin, Maverick City Music, Kierra Sheard, and Chandler Moore resulted in some backlash due to GloRilla being a “secular” artist. Members of the gospel community have shared disappointment on social media regarding the gospel artists “compromising” themselves. I don’t see a problem; the song has no explicit rating. She grew up in church, and her birth name is Gloria Hallelujah Woods. “I tried to touch different aspects on the album,” she said on the Jennifer Hudson Show.

She also included a track titled “Glo’s Prayer” for the women who have found it hard to leave a man who isn’t right for them. The complete opposite of “Ciara’s Prayer,” which was featured on Summer Walker’s “Still Over It” album. As Ciara prayed for love and manifested her husband, GloRilla questions if it is her taste in men that she needs to blame.

Overall Rating

According to Pitchfork, “the most trusted voice in music,” Glorious has been rated a 7.2. I’m afraid I have to disagree and rate it an 8.2/10; there were very few skips, and the features did not disappoint. Music is subjective, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion; I’m just giving mine. What do you think, and what are your favorite tracks?