BbyMutha

After a relatively quiet 2019, the dark queen of the rap netherworld Bbymutha has blessed us with a dark and commanding EP of bangers, Muthaleficent.

She’s a mother-of-four from Chattanooga, Tennessee with one of the smoothest voices in the game, but she’s really snapping here. The standout is the title track where she’s on a war path and just wants to be left alone with her fairies. One of her soldiers Swerzie provides back-up. Most of the tracks are this sorta vibe. Territory is probably the next best. In true BbyMutha fashion, the outro is just a Zelooperz song with about a minute of her talking shit to her haters at the end. This tape is Bbymutha at her most confident, most aggressive and most inclined to rap about fairies and the devil giving her books to read. This is a good thing but also means you don’t get a sample of her mastery of a much smoother style. Her beats in the past have also been a bit more unique, as much as these ones bangs and serve their purpose.

As her name suggests, Bbymutha takes great pride in her four kids and reps her family like her gang. “It’s not an insult to me. Some of us are babies’ mothers,” she says. “Not everyone is a wife, and not everyone aspires to be a wife.” She has such a distinct persona as the gangsta-mama queen of the underworld who wields her pussy like a wand to get her way. Perpetually fed up with the bullshit but never doubts that she’s the shit. Will fuck your boyfriend and your girlfriend. ‘I’m a slut forever, you ain’t gang if you can’t make me nut’.

The best place to start is probably ‘BBC’ off her BbyShoe EP, where she declares: ‘I’m a bad bitch n***a, you can’t kill me’. This pretty much sums up the attitude that’s pervasive in her music, but there are plenty of EP cuts, like ’N****s’ and ‘Toxic’, where she’s more vulnerable while airing out grievances with the men in her life. Her tape from last year also had ‘Sweeter Than A Savage’, a heartbreaking tribute to her boyfriend who was killed last year. The rest of the BbyShoe EP is Bbymutha at her smoothest and it sometimes feel like this is the best use of her voice. After one of the GOAT skits of her being told to ‘mind her business’ by her toddlers, she ramps up with ‘BBC’ then closes out with a link-up with fellow hard af outcast rapper Rico Nasty. Feel like they should’ve been friends in high-school. Or should make a movie about it.

Most of her early disciples, or ‘bastards’, first fell in love with ‘Rules’ for it’s memorable hook about not giving pussy to guys who ain’t used to getting pussy (😰), her smooth Southern drawl, the phat beat and the lewks. Bbymutha loves a phat beat and puts together a fit like no one else.

Another one of her great EPs from her hall-of-fame run in 2018 ‘Muthaz Day 2’ contains Genesis (MP3), one of my favourite songs of the last few years where she glides over a Grimes instrumental, rapping about the fairy-tale time she’s having sleeping with men’s girlfriends. She did a similar remix of Tame Impala last year. Neither are on streaming services tho sadly. The rest of the EP is. It could be her best, probably has the best beats.

In an act of Bbymutha sorcery, Muthaz Day came for a second time in 2018. My favourite from Muthaz Day 3 is ‘Triangles’, a fusion-dance with her best friend and non-professional rapper Del-Vay who steals the show with this weird flow and incredible charisma that totally captivates me. From the moment she doesn’t care that she’s omitting a word with her first line ‘Who is all these hoes that like they know me’, it has such a unique style. So effortlessly assertive. Can’t quite explain it. Del-Vay’s verse gets a video halfway through the ‘D.I.Y.’ video, also a great song. Whole tape is a good listen, fair bit of variety.

A single from 2018, Janis Ian Dyke is a good example of how avant-garde she is willing to get with her production. The song is still about how she’s that bitch but the beat is industrial, harsh and hectic. Another great single from 2018 was ‘Heaven’s Little Bastard’, where she questions if there’s heaven for a bastard, but says she’d only go church to fuck the pastor. Just Bbymutha going in on a hot beat – what more could you ask for? It’s also Gigital G’s favourite song and she inspired me to write this so shout out Gigital G.

In the same year, she released two more good EPs: Free Brittnee & The Bastard Tape, Vol. 1. ‘Sleeping With The Enemy’ off the latter is a total bop which might’ve been a hit if she had label backing. It sounds like the music industry has hung Bbymutha out to dry a few times for trying to keep her agency. She’s often had trouble releasing her own music. Hopefully we’ll be getting her long-anticipated full length Muthaland soon. Plenty to slap for now. Below are playlists with all of these songs and most of her catalog really but most of the EPs are good listens front to back. Few too many skits.

We do not use the term ‘female rapper’ on this website. She’s one of the best doing it.

Peep the great Fader feature by Rayiwa Kameir for further reading. She’s also just launched a business with bestie Del-Vay – https://www.muthamagickapothecary.com/ – so if you’re in the market for cosmetics n stuff, check it out. Support an independent artist, corona n that.