Album review: Tairrie B – Feminenergy – Well you kind of knew Tairrie B wouldn’t be taking things quietly in the run up to what surely must be the most important US election ever, you kind of knew she wasn’t just going going to sit at home and just quietly go out to vote… 

“Ladies & Gentlemen, I’m proud to debut my new album and the birth of “Feminenergy” My October surprise and radical, liberal baby!” shouted Tairrie B – well she didn’t shout it, she typed it but hey, pretty sure she typed it in a loud and shouty kind of way, I kind of imagine Tairrie B is not the kind of person who types quietly and right now, more than ever, she has a great long list of things to be typing-angry about. Not that her new album is juSt an angry shout fest, no no no, Feminenergy is far more than just an angery shout fest

“Twelve socially conscious, politically reflective, hardcore tracks of hip hop, rock & resistance with a raised up fist. Reclaiming my time, speaking my mind with a vengeance and calling for a referendum on this unfit, derelict president. This is a FREE DOWNLOAD and my gift to YOU however, if you would like to make a donation in the name of ART, I thank you for the continued support. ♡  Respect to the architects and those I sampled. Once again, you have inspired me and I just wanted to show my love for YOU”.

Feminenergy is Tairrie B going back to her crunchy punchy hip hop roots, an album delivered with that metallic swipe you’d expect but this lady has history, this in many ways is back to where she started, back to where she started her fight, this is Tairrie reaching back to her days before Manhole  – there’s no bandwagon jumping here, she is (and always has been) the very real deal. Got to love that musical punch, that relentless drive, ain’t no stopping her, she hasn’t mellowed, well how could she with all that’s going on?  Actually Tairrie B never really left her roots behind, her hip hop has always been there along with her  metal and her anger – well no, anger isn’t quite right, attitude, positive attitude, Tairrie B has always had the right attitude, she’s still the same person we first met in a backstreet London pub and interviewed that very first time before that first Manhole album – her first words were kind of confrontational, straight away, there it was, that don’t you dare even think of messing with me attitude, loved her from day one.  

“Wear your mask, wash your hands and VOTE HIM OUT!”, you do kind of get the idea she’s doesn’t like Trump and his men that much, well how the hell could she? How the hell could anyone? Leader of the free world? No thank you,  please vote him out America, the rest of us are kind of powerless, the rest of us are begging you to please just dump him. 

So yes, Feminenergy is Tairrie B in full effect, this is Tairrie B as journalist, as commentator, she always has been really but this is her dialing it all up to the max, and no, this is not just some hollow vote him out slogan shouting shallowness, this is the real angry deal, she doesn’t deal in silence, she’s always been about more than the obvious slogan   

And yes, she is a woman, listen to her sing it without finding a smile right there on your face, I defy you, right there in the middle of your boat race, you can’t, brilliant – whatever it is there is always a positive slice underneath it all – didn’t Chuck D say just the other day that the world was going to go nowhere good until at least 60% of it is rum by women? Something about men having had their time and their chance and look at the mess we men have made of it? He said something like that. Hey look, Tairrie has a great back catalogue, a long long history, she’s made some excellent albums, like she says herself, she’s the hardest, she’s an artist, she knows where the heart is and this just might be the best album she’s ever made. She’s nasty, she keeps telling us how nasty she is as she baits Trump, as she bait the whole damn system.  And yes, it is all about the words and the anger and the right here, right now and the election and it is all about what she’s saying but musically, in terms of the hip hop and motion of it all, the thump, the sound and the whole thing, before we even get to the words and the sentiment, before we get to that, before we even start to listen to what she’s saying, this is one of her strongest albums yet, this is the LA Woman and her friends at their best, nice one Tairrie B, Love it, love the hope in it, good to hear Medulla Nocte/Dead Sheeran‘s Paul Catton getting there with a word or two as well. Excellent album, brilliantly timed, now please just dump him, gawd knows what this is going to sound like afterwards if you don’t, for the sake of this album at least, vote him out  (SW)

The new album, out this week, is available on a pay what you want to basis, from the Bandcamp page, listen to it right there, hit the link for all the info you need