Grant JonesYes, you read that correctly. BigKlit is a rapper from California that signed to Sony and is being heavily marketed as an artist to watch. My first exposure to her music was through Genius’s fun “Reacts” series of YouTube videos where essentially, old rappers pass judgement on new rappers. It’s clear that many of the artists involved in these are trying not to offend, and it was Jadakiss’ reaction to BigKlit (she now resides in NY) that made me think along the same lines as The LOX member: “this can’t be serious right?“.
Imagine Princess Superstar‘s audacity, Cardi B‘s attitude and Khia‘s X-rated lyrics and you’ll end up with BigKlit. Her name may be eerily similar to Big KRIT, but there’s none of the storytelling or lyrical finesse of KRIT – this is essentially nymphomaniac-rap where every song revolves around getting an orgasm. If you’ve been a rap fan long enough to know the name SuperHead; imagine she started recording music and you get the idea.
“Go In” is surefire Stripclub material but could work outside of that environment, much in the same way 2 Live Crew and Too $hort is great for bumping in the car or to liven up a party. The problem with most of “Klitorious B.I.G.” is its very try-hard – the equivalent of overhearing teenagers swearing excessively because they think it sounds “cool”. There’s definitely an element of cringe to the whole record.
Bear in mind, this is a 13-track “LP” that clocks in at 25 minutes. We are seeing this more with this generation of artists, trying to capitalise on both shorter attention spans and the reliance on streaming numbers to generate revenue. Am I more likely to play a 1-minute song ten times, than a 3-minute track three times? Judging by the quality of the songs, this actually backfires because the best track, by far, is the 3-minute “My Time” – a legitimately catchy slice of pop-rap that reminds me of the hugely overlooked Honey Cocaine.
The irony of BigKlit is that there’s nothing sensitive about her. At all. “Facefuk” explicitly states this. Yet through all the hardcore pornographic imagery, BigKlit distinguishes herself by not portraying herself as a beautiful, pristine barbie doll. She is the amateur porn antithesis to Cardi B’s professional, glamourous star-power. Make-up is messed up, hair is scruffy and the nails are real – the music also represents that rawness that many artists fail to capture when making sex-raps. It’s just unfortunate that most songs here are bereft of wit and nuance, way too short to stay in the memory, or simply too ugly on the ear. The production is intentionally disruptive, heavy on the electronic distortion which lends everything a punk-ish rebelliousness which for me, doesn’t lend itself to repeated listens.
Lyrically BigKlit lacks the humour in both her writing and delivery to make the listener warm to her persona, but I do admire the stubborn nature of rapping about specific sexual acts with such passion. It’s not hidden amongst tired themes of hustling, love or jewellery – you get the music you’d expect from an artist called BigKlit. You can’t say she’s not direct. It’s just a shame that, much like pornography, there’s little emotional depth on display, and BigKlit is unfortunately largely unlikable as a result.
Somehow, BigKlit’s “Klitorious B.I.G.” ended up being better than I anticipated. Granted, I expected it to be absolute trash but it ends up being just trash. It is unashamedly an attention-grabbing attempt at shock-rap, right down to its offensive title. Part of me wonders what Biggie makes of a record like this because the only thing in common with Brooklyn’s Finest is the blowjob skit at the end of “Respect” – that part of Biggie is essentially expanded into a full record. Make of that what you will; sex rap has its purpose and when done right, has generated iconic songs like “My Neck, My Back”, “We Want Some Pussy” and the wonderfully explicit remix to Ludacris’ “What’s Your Fantasy”. Yet, it remains to be seen how long BigKlit’s career will last if its a slew of 90-second bursts of energy that are essentially audio commentaries to pornographic videos. The only track here worth checking out is “My Time”.