Flo Milli Is Her Own Brand
Rap's new It Girl cements her spot.
Many folks on social media—especially Twitter—masquerade as a member of an artist’s A&R team, despite lacking sufficient credentials. I’m guilty of this myself, but I aim to participate in an innocuous way. My imagination writes treatments for music videos without being prompted. My curiosity drives me to choose potential follow-up singles from an album based upon what possesses the most general-public appeal. (That reminds me: I want justice for “Levitating” by Dua Lipa.) My ears process soundscapes that would be great for an artist to explore. As a music listener with an overactive imagination, I envision new directions for my favorite artists because many artists reinvent themselves anyways.
However, I remind myself that artists remain people—not merely a brand. Artists face constant deification which not only strips them of their right to remain human, but it also leads to folks on social media treating them as property for their own entertainment (under the guise of being a “fan”). Harmless musings quickly become unsolicited advice with unsupported claims that disrespects the ability of an artist to establish a persona for themselves. As expected, Black women—especially darkskinned Black women—suffer the most from this disrespect and dismissal. Their authenticity and branding face immediate challenge from miscellaneous users on the internet.
Upon dropping her debut mixtape—aptly titled Ho, Why Is You Here?—Flo Milli received an overwhelming outpour of support as she sets her sights on success. Unfortunately, she saw unfounded criticism from some Twitter users who deemed that she needs to “get her brand together.” These detractors uphold the notion of Black women in music needing to be polished, perfect, and packaged for consumption as soon as they begin their careers. Regardless, Flo Milli proves on Ho, Why Is You Here? that she is enough and will forever be enough. Through her formidable ability to ride any beat, command of language to convey her point, and ability to reference herself, Flo Milli provides her rebuttal for these self-proclaimed brand executives through her pen game.
As “Mood Everyday” opens the mixtape, Flo Milli’s voice bounces over staccato pianos and trap drums to proclaim, “When you shine how I shine, you get a whole lot of hate.” She acknowledges both the people who have come for her and those who will come for her, asserting that it does not faze her regardless. She sounds damn good doing it too, especially on “Like That Bitch,” a track which contains some quick (yet never clumsy) bars from her. Upon my first listen, “I know they hate… You would think I was a n-gga by the way these hoes be on my dick” stopped me in my tracks, not because of the lyrical content of this particular bar, but, rather, the speed of her voice caused me to realize the power she possesses. The effortless speed of this bar sets the tone for the rest of the song, which she continues to lyrically and rhythmically elevate until it ends. Even when she slows herself down, her cadence remains captivating. With its beat reminding me of “Cocky Af” by breakout rapper Megan Thee Stallion, “Pockets Bigger” finds Flo Milli enunciating every single word with clarity and intention in under two minutes. Her hypnotic “none of you bitches is fucking with me” refrain stayed with me long after the track ended. On “May I,” an instant fan favorite, she references Snoop Dogg’s iconic “Gin & Juice” flow over a beat reminiscent of “Pass That Dutch” by Missy Elliot and even “Hopscotch” by Tinashe. She transforms Snoop’s bars into something that suits the do-what-I-please persona she’s established for herself throughout the mixtape. When she asks, “May I kick a lil something for the G’s and take your nigga only for the weekend,” she immediately answers herself, stating, “I'm cuffin’. I don’t keep 'em. Send your nigga back home.” Through these tracks, Flo Milli raps for comprehension, demolition, and her own gratification.
Her mastery of rhetorical devices shines across the mixtape, especially on the aforementioned “Like That Bitch,” which could be considered the heart of the mixtape. In one track, she manages to incorporate onomatopoeia (“my pussy bomb—tick, tick, tick, boom”), homophones (“her boyfriend in my DMs… we can take it there, but, baby, you gon' have to write/right back”), similes (“gettin' money is a must like no deodorant on your pits”), contrast (“bitches be heated, I'm cool”), chiasmus (“I don’t tell hoes 'cause hoes tell"), and internal slant rhyme (“bitches hatin' 'cause I'm rich / hoe, you broke, you need a fix”). Flo Milli reminds listeners that rappers should do more than rhyming words with the same endings to make a point. She uses every device in her arsenal to annihilate.
She also acknowledges her appeal and budding success, leading to self-referential lyrics and repetition to increase recognition. On almost every track, she utters some variation of “Flo Milli Shit” at the beginning. These three words (or four if hoe is added at the end) have become her catchiest adlib, not unlike Megan Thee Stallion’s “Real Hot Girl Shit” or Rico Nasty’s “Whoa, Kenny!” These three words have become something for the listener to expect before she playfully delivers wham lines such as “I like cash and hair to my ass” and “dicks up when I step in the party.” Furthermore, she seems to briefly recognize her biggest streaming hit to date during “Like That Bitch” when she states, “Bitch, if we beefin’, I’m ‘bout it.” Afterwards, she chuckles, coyly acknowledging “Beef FloMix” and using such a reference to double-down on the persona she’s carving for herself—reminding us that Flo Milli and cheap talk will never be synonymous.
Flo Milli’s attitude, drive, and humor clamor for attention across Ho, Why Is You Here? She keeps her tracks succinct and to the point, devouring these beats that would be unremarkable had she not spit on them. She manages to conquer her first effort with no features, too. Despite the self-appointed, make-believe A&R executives that run rampant on Twitter—despite them giving her unsolicited advice on a career that they will never manage—she manages to deliver an assured debut that proves how her talent can end arguments calling for her to embody a cheap gimmick for longevity. As Flo Milli builds her own world on her own terms, we’re all competing for a spot to live in it.
Standout Tracks:
“Like That Bitch”
“May I”
“Pockets Bigger”
“Not Friendly”
“Beef FloMix"
Listen to Ho, Why Is You Here? here on Spotify.
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