On Sugar Honey Iced Tea, Latto certainly gets to talk her shit. The self proclaimed “Georgia Peach” brought a refreshing level of versatility to this album in terms of flow and production, while unapologetically staying true to her roots in terms of her lyricism. Most of the album was what we’d typically expect from Latto, songs that proudly flaunt her ass and assets laced with clever bars that poke fun at her “broke” and “miserable” counterparts. On H&M, she raps “Only whining if I’m dining, bitches love to wine and cry/ Hoes be hurt and miserable”. The tracks “Brokey", “There She Go”, “Shrimp and Grits”, and “Chicken Grease”, slime her haters in a similar fashion while incorporating some southern references to make it more authentic to her as an artist.
While each song definitely had bars that made my ears perk up, I didn’t find the tracks to be as catchy as the leading singles she dropped for this album, such as “Big Mama”, “Put it on the Floor” and “Sunday Service”. Perhaps she should have saved one of those for when the album dropped, as in comparison nothing else on the album seems to have as much of an earworm effect that would make you want to listen again and again.
The only “sugar” present in the album can be seen on her track “Look What You Did” with Mariah the Scientist, which shows her appreciation for her long-time boo, and on the tracks, “Georgia Peach” and “S/O to me”, in the form of self-love. These songs also give us some more insight to Latto’s background and upbringing, demonstrating her growth as a rapper while she deviates from solely dissing to storytelling. However, these tracks also lack hooks that would make you want to casually listen to them; they feel more like speeches than songs at times.
Another slight pitfall of the album is that sometimes it is hard to tell when Latto intends to come off as serious or silly. In the track “Blick Sum” she starts “I don’t trust no man without no blicky/ Because when shit gets stuck where the fuck that blicky at? / Why ya got no blicky boy”. The first time I heard that I had to let out a laugh. And while the song has a hard-hitting beat, that’s really the only hard thing about it. If she meant for this album to incorporate both lighthearted notes and more earnest moments to add to her range, she succeeded at that, but again it’s unclear if that was her vision. Overall I’d give the album a rating of 3.5/5 as it definitely shows that Latto has expanded her capabilities as an artist, but falls short on its memorability, as few of the 22 tracks demand to be replayed more than once.
Favorite Tracks:
Blick Sum, Brokey, H&M, Sunday Service
Least Favorite Tracks:
There She Go, Good 2 You, Liquor,
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