Spice: ‘Emancipated’ Album Review
Like she had promised a few months ago, in her Love Triangle song, that she would not stop singing about her “pum-pum”, Spice literally keeps her word on her sophomore album, Emancipated. While the nine-track album is somewhat of a distant cry from her Grammy-nominated 10 debut album, it is clearly an album for young, party-going women.
Unlike 10 which had several features and on which she appears to have toned down her content, Spice is “As Raw as Ever” on Emancipated. Seemingly targeting her female fans, Spice, on all the tracks except for one, centers her subject matter on sex, which is not surprising, but is what her fans have become accustomed to, and certainly, what they delight in.
And so, predicated mainly on sex, the songs see her, for one, expressing her desire for well-endowed men, and disregarding men who are on the smaller side, and then being her own cheerleader of her private parts, while bigging up like-minded women.
There is one song, though, in which she ditches the sexual content, and which can get a G-rating. Same Mouth‘s beat begins with an orchestral flourish, and Spice’s cadence has similarities to Patti Labelle. It is a good track, with a good groove, and sees the Portmore native doing more singing as opposed to deejaying. The song, has a similar theme to Frenz, speaking to betrayal and hypocrisy and it also shows that Spice should sing more, as it showcases her vocal ability.
Crop Top, which has a good hook and is very dance-worthy, lauds the women who have done BBL, and throws shade at thsoe who are broke and unable to keep a man. It incorporates references to “batty jaw slapping” which appears to be one of Spice’s newest additions to her Dancehall lexicon.
The album starts with Bake a Man – noting her desire for, and imagining how she would choose her ingredients to make the perfect man, one with a lengthy phallus, thick body and a cute face, and one who was not fake.
On Mi Hate Him, was a love-hate relationship where she is attached to a man because of sex, even though he was toxic and essentially a waste man, while her previously-released Clap Clap, again, praises her private parts and “batty jaw”, and dismisses those who do not like her.
In Nuff Man Name, she speaks about the fact that she is a “classy woman” who has a “little bitty, exclusive yoni”, has one lover, has never had a lot of men, and is not easy to get.
In Big Big, again, she expresses her desire for well-endowed men, and sees her rapping as opposed to deejaying. Among other things that she does not want “no Little Bo Peep”, but a “big” man with his own money and the works.
In Pop Off, she goes hard with a real hard-core Dancehall beat, and rides the riddim with precision. In this song, she brags about her sexual prowess while ordering her man to rip her clothes, and grab her throat and have his way with her. The song should resonate with non-patois speakers as the hook Pop off mi clothes is easy to remember and sing along to. This track is a good party song to “wine-up” to, for women who are so inclined.
The Tape Measure song, perhaps more well known for the controversial Twitter clip which was used as its promo, is another dancing song, but if keen attention is paid to the lyrics, her demand for her man’s member to be nothing less than 230 millimetres which equals nine inches, could backfire in Dancehall circles, as it runs counter to her popular Needle Eye song.
Despite being riddled with explicit content, if the album is looked at dispassionately, it is still a good look for the under-pressure Dancehall, as the St. Catherine High School old girl sticks to the genres core sounds, using in most instances 1990s-type beats, reminiscent of those produced by Madhouse legend Dave Kelly in that production house’s heydays.