“Do you may have my black purse?” Sexyy Pink asks certainly one of her staff members as she makes her manner in entrance of the digicam. As her brazen observe “Sexyy Pink for President” blasts within the background, the breakout St. Louis rapper pulls out two large wads of money, fastidiously putting one atop her trademark shiny purple wig as if it had been a crown.
For all of the boisterous power of her high-octane hit singles, Sexyy Pink is fairly quiet in individual. The clock’s approaching midnight on the day of her Billboard picture shoot — and he or she’s shortly approaching the beginning of her second youngster — so her relative calm is comprehensible. Nonetheless, as every new music from the deluxe model of her Hood Hottest Princess mixtape booms by the room’s audio system, Sexyy shortly shifts into boss mode, serving to direct her shoot. She’s undoubtedly a star — and he or she was one lengthy earlier than “Pound City,” her January collaboration with Tay Keith, modified her life.
As hip-hop celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2023, Sexyy Pink turned a dominant power within the cultural dialog across the style and the place it’s headed subsequent. Go to a school social gathering blasting her “Hellcats SRTs,” or watch a membership explode when “Yonce Freestyle” drops, and the 25-year-old rapper’s affect is apparent. From the tongue-in-cheek “Searching for the Hoes” to the Chief Keef-evoking “Shake Yo Dreads,” her music resonates with anybody prepared to have interaction with and embrace their ratchet facet.
In contrast to lots of her feminine friends, Sexyy’s raps aren’t drenched in metaphors and punchlines; her lyrics sound as if she’s saying the very very first thing that pops into her head — which is strictly the case. When she spits, “B-tch, if it’s some beef, let me know, sh-t, what’s up?/All that talkin’ on the web, that’s gon’ get your head bust,” in “I’m the Sh-t,” Sexyy isn’t weaving subliminal photographs all through intricate wordplay — she’s plainly addressing her opps with equal elements humor, apathy and stone-cold seriousness.
In keeping with Luminate, Hood Hottest Princess has collected 447.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams, serving to it attain No. 13 on the High Rap Albums chart, in addition to making appearances on High R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (No. 21) and the Billboard 200 (No. 62). Sexyy has charted a pair of prime 10s on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay rating: “SkeeYee” (No. 6) and “Wealthy Child Daddy” (No. 2), with the previous additionally changing into the inaugural No. 1 hit on the newly launched TikTok Billboard High 50.
This digital cowl story is a part of Billboard’s Style Now bundle, highlighting the artists pushing their musical genres ahead — and even creating their very own new ones.
Sexyy dominated 2023 amid a notable lull for her style total within the market. Final 12 months, no hip-hop artist topped the Billboard 200 till mid-July, when Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape turned the primary No. 1 hip-hop album since Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains the earlier December, marking the longest hole between No. 1 hip-hop albums since a 34-week drought in 1992-93. In September, Doja Cat’s “Paint the City Pink” turned hip-hop’s first Billboard Scorching 100-topping single since Nicki Minaj’s “Tremendous Freaky Lady” in August 2022.
Each “Paint the City Pink” and Pink Tape had been buoyed by the danceable, prime 40-friendly sounds of pop-rap and Jersey membership, respectively, signaling a shift from the 2010s, when dominant lure artists usually launched new singles and albums to the tops of Billboard’s marquee all-genre charts. Whereas Sexyy didn’t make fairly the industrial influence of “Paint the City Pink” or Uzi’s “Simply Wanna Rock,” her exceptional string of 2023 hits suggests hip-hop could evolve in a brand new course: one wherein much less crossover-aimed rap can nonetheless captivate the tradition, and wherein a lady with Sexyy’s uncooked, raucous fashion can obtain mainstream dominance with no prime 40-friendly hit.
Born Janae Wherry, Sexyy grew up in St. Louis listening to the likes of Webbie, Boosie BadAzz and Trina — artists that embody the unapologetically hood power that now programs by each Sexyy Pink music. As Sexyy factors out, they had been all revered for his or her fearlessness. However reaching that sort of bravery herself took a while.
“After I was little, I at all times knew [I was a star] as a result of I used to be simply completely different,” Sexyy says. “I used to be fearful. I used to be quiet. However everyone used to wish to be my pal. I used to be fairly, my hair was actual lengthy, my mama knew costume me. All people used to simply be flocking to me, however I used to be shy. I didn’t wish to discuss to no person. I’ve at all times been that individual for actual.”
Michael Tyrone Delaney
That sort of authenticity is now serving to her followers entry their very own — one two-and-a-half-minute observe at a time. From the beginning, Sexyy’s profession has felt natural and, at first, low stakes. Rising up, she at all times had a inventive spirit: “I used to assume I used to be going to be a painter. I used to design my Barbie dolls’ garments. I was doing hair. I simply was multitalented, so I knew I may do it, however I simply didn’t understand how,” she says.
When a former boyfriend broke her coronary heart in 2018, Sexyy reacted in essentially the most hip-hop manner potential: She recorded a dis observe. The response amongst mates was so overwhelmingly constructive that even the music’s topic inspired her to noticeably pursue music. (“He’d have me rap the music to his mates,” Sexyy remembers.)
From that very first music, listeners clamored to listen to Sexyy’s particular voice, her cadence, her power, her off-the-cuff rambunctiousness tempered with sincerity. Performances at native golf equipment and events quickly adopted — “A free social gathering? And I get $50 simply to go up there and simply do one thing? Why not?” — as did a debut mixtape, 2021’s Ghetto Celebrity, and assist on social media from R&B star Summer season Walker. Nevertheless it took a mix of old-school grind and new-school social media prowess — and somewhat assist from the music trade — for Sexyy to harness the zeitgeist.
In 2021, Insurgent Music, an impartial Miami-based label and administration firm, signed Sexyy after coming throughout a few of her early tracks. “As soon as she bought off the airplane and I heard her voice, I knew she was a star,” remembers Vladimir “Sunny” Laurent, Sexyy’s A&R government. “Like, her voice, it simply tells you who she is.” By mid-2023, Miami-based distributor Open Shift and gamma — Larry Jackson’s media firm that creates, distributes and markets content material with a particular concentrate on Black tradition — “reached out to [Rebel] and expressed curiosity not solely in Sexyy, however their broad platform [too],” in accordance with Dave Gross, who turned Sexyy’s supervisor across the identical time. (Sexyy stays signed to Insurgent Music, whereas gamma and Open Shift deal with distribution of her music.)
In January 2023, Sexyy Pink dropped the observe that will change the course of her profession. “Pound City” is emblematic of Sexyy’s ethos: Say what you are feeling, and do this earlier than anything. From “too many b-tches, the place the n—as at?” to “My c–chie pink, my bootyh–e brown,” her impulsive bars shortly drew listeners in, inspiring a litany of memes throughout TikTok and X (previously Twitter).
The observe additionally introduced “p—y rap” — which music journalist Robyn Mowatt describes as “a subgenre of rap the place girls embrace their sexual prowess” within the face of “the patriarchy and misogyny” frequent within the male-dominated rap world — to the fore of hip-hop discourse. As feminine MCs have seized the mainstream, p—y rap has dominated, with Sexyy as certainly one of its most outstanding purveyors — even when she disputes the classification.
“I don’t agree with that [classification], as a result of why is that the one factor you heard me speaking about?” she says. “That’s the one factor that you simply bought out of every little thing I simply mentioned? You simply heard me say ‘c–chie’? I hate once they say that. I simply rap about my day by day life. Ladies that stay like me, I simply rap about what we undergo. I don’t sit and speak about c–chie all day.”
She’s proper. What has made Sexyy such a contentious topic of hip-hop conversations is that she embodies an power and perspective many are snug glamorizing with out respecting. In lyrics like “After I don’t hear from my n—a, I write him/He a foul boy, I don’t care, that’s how I like ’em/Yeah, free my n—a ’til it’s backwards/F–okay the police, f–okay the pigs, they some bastards,” she’s not conjuring a scene to present the phantasm of a hood aesthetic — she’s actually pulling from her actual life.
“Authenticity is self-relative, and for Sexyy, it’s that she’s impartial, fierce, sturdy, unafraid of the world’s opinions and unbowed by backlash,” Gross says. It’s not about whether or not she’s appearing “hood” — it’s about expressing these qualities and aesthetics authentically in her music and efficiency. Sexyy is at all times being Sexyy, at the start.
“Pound City” peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard Scorching 100 following a remix with Nicki Minaj, marking Sexyy’s debut on the chart. “I particularly had the imaginative and prescient to be sure that we bought that finished and out by Memorial Day weekend in order that we may simply personal the f–king summer time,” says gamma CEO Larry Jackson, who was instrumental in orchestrating the remix. “That, to me, was like throwing a lit match in dry shrubbery.”
As scores of streaming-era artists know properly, it’s straightforward for a viral hit to overshadow the artist behind it. Sexyy Pink and her staff sought to keep away from that, Jackson says, delivering a continuing stream of singles and remixes to assist Hood Hottest Princess. The mission arrived alongside the official single launch of “SkeeYee,” a raucous social gathering anthem named after a cat-calling phrase ceaselessly utilized in Sexyy’s hometown of St. Louis.
“SkeeYee” shortly turned a staple on locker room playlists throughout the nation, the go-to celebration music for athletes from school soccer’s Ole Miss Rebels to MLB’s Baltimore Orioles. Its success shifted Sexyy into a distinct tier from her friends like Kaliii and Flo Milli. Most mainstream feminine rappers are ignored by straight male audiences save for a verse or two, however Sexyy had that demographic captivated for a whole calendar 12 months — from the numerous movies of ecstatic male followers at her pageant appearances to Travis Scott’s giddy embrace of “SkeeYee” throughout his 2023 Wi-fi Competition set.
“She’s the feminine Gucci [Mane]. She feels like Trina. All people thinks she’s like a p—y rap artist, however she’s not likely,” Laurent says. “She makes music for dudes who like quick vehicles. That’s why dudes join along with her so properly. All people loves her, from the LGBT group to [straight] girls — it’s all walks of life.”
“Hellcats SRTs” (together with its Lil Durk remix) and “Shake Yo Dreads” added two extra hits to Sexyy’s résumé, and sensible options on NLE Choppa’s “Slut Me Out” and DaBaby’s “Shake Sumn” saved her momentum going. In 2023, ratchet social gathering rap reemerged in recognition, and Sexyy led the cost with music and power paying homage to iconic voices like Waka Flocka Flame and Chief Keef. “I see Sexyy Pink as a feminine me,” Waka says. “How persons are like, ‘Man, Waka’s music simply ratchet!’ It was data outselling me by thousands and thousands of copies, however they’ll by no means get performed contained in the membership.”
Neither “Pound City” nor “SkeeYee” was a serious Scorching 100 hit, reaching Nos. 66 and 62, respectively, however they nonetheless captured and outlined the 12 months for big swaths of customers; Sexyy landed six entries on the TikTok Billboard High 50. And after her hit linkup with Minaj, she spent the remainder of 2023 maximizing her industrial attain by collaborating with one other Younger Cash icon.
In keeping with Gross, Drake reached out to Sexyy by way of DM across the time the remainder of the trade started to actually take discover of her. So, between supporting Moneybagg Yo on his Bigger Than Life Tour and headlining her personal Hood Hottest Princess tour, Sexyy opened for Drake and 21 Savage’s blockbuster It’s All a Blur Tour. That cross-country trek set the stage for Sexyy’s highest-peaking Scorching 100 entry but, “Wealthy Child Daddy” (No. 11), a observe from Drake’s For All of the Canines album that additionally options fellow St. Louis native SZA. “Wealthy Child Daddy” additionally turned her most beloved observe but (by critics and followers alike), on an album that additionally featured heavy hitters from Unhealthy Bunny to J. Cole — an indicator of how shortly Sexyy had risen within the trade.
Her stint on Drake and 21 Savage’s tour additionally laid the groundwork for her personal headlining tour, which her staff estimates offered 75,000 tickets throughout 28 exhibits — a uncommon feat for a feminine rapper, particularly one so new to the sport, and a testomony to the power of the Sexyy Pink model in a 12 months that had quite a few cancellations of hip-hop excursions and festivals.
“Touring was irritating at first, as a result of no person knew I used to be pregnant,” Sexyy explains. “I’d be within the bed room making an attempt to suck my abdomen in or put on garments to point out I wasn’t. It damage to simply be onstage all day holding your abdomen. It’s exhausting to cover it.” For an artist like Sexyy, deeply dedicated to presenting herself authentically, the choice to do this was deeply private, and tactical: She shot greater than 10 music movies, made a number of pageant appearances, went on three excursions and carried out at awards exhibits — and did most of that whereas carrying her second youngster.
“Being pregnant is irritating; it wears your physique down. I used to be drained, however I attempted to cover it as a lot as you probably may,” she says. “I wish to have a private life. I’m already well-known or no matter, so every little thing be on the market. I be making an attempt to have one thing to myself that I may hold. Simply go house and be with my son and my household. That’s the explanation I used to be hiding.”
Michael Tyrone Delaney
Gross remembers one summer time stint wherein Sexyy “hopped off the stage with Drake, hopped on a jet to make it to a Moneybagg Yo present, did an afterparty after the Moneybagg present, then at six or seven within the morning took one other jet to go the following metropolis the place the Drake tour was.” That sort of work ethic is what drew him to Sexyy within the first place.
It’s the identical power Sexyy began the 12 months with after the daddy of her child bought locked up. “I don’t bought no extra distractions. I can work now,” she says. After each present, she went straight to her 2-year-old son, Chuckie — a testomony to how she manages to stability work along with her private life. “This 12 months was very distinctive and there was a particularly heightened sense of concern” across the influence of Sexyy’s promotional schedule on her thoughts and physique, Gross says. “Our recreation plan is at all times going to be to take our cue from the artist.”
As shortly as she has change into a pop cultural touchstone, Sexyy has stirred up loads of controversy. In October on the podcast This Previous Weekend With Theo Von, she mentioned, “Trump, we miss you” — arguing that “they assist him within the hood” as a result of “he began getting Black individuals out of jail and giving those who free cash.” One conspiracy idea accuses her of being a plant by the CIA to destroy the Black group, whereas some posts on X have referred to as for Jackson’s condemnation to hell due to his involvement in selling Sexyy.
For Sexyy, desirous to be within the rap recreation for the lengthy haul has meant discovering a method to exist amid all that noise. “It don’t actually faze me, as a result of I do know what’s happening in actual life,” she says. “I simply do me. I be very nice.” And, in actual life, Sexyy is connecting with audiences as a result of she’s giving them the house to revel of their ratchetness. “In my view, she is the primary one post-pandemic who introduced us a sizzling summer time,” Jackson says. “She dropped music that made us really feel good for the primary time in 4 years about being exterior once more.”
“I feel she’s each lady’s spirit animal. That rambunctious woman that claims something she feels. She says issues persons are afraid to say,” provides Laurent. “She’s like a heroine in a manner.”
In 2024, Sexyy Pink has one aim: “I’m displaying my ass. I’m going to simply be getting richer, greater, extra trendier. I’m going to be in all places,” she says. “I’m going to be in it for the lengthy haul, [but] not even on objective, although. Even when I attempt to cease rapping, they’re going to take some sh-t, flip it into one thing, put me on the blogs, make it one thing it doesn’t even should be, so Imma be right here for a minute.” Her supervisor is aiming for “three or 4 albums subsequent 12 months. That is likely to be formidable,” he acknowledges. “However I would like 2024 to be the 12 months of Sexyy Pink like 2023 was.”
Michael Tyrone Delaney
In December, she dropped a deluxe version of Hood Hottest Princess that includes collaborations with Chief Keef and Summer season Walker, and he or she has additionally scored rising hits in “Bow Bow Bow (F My Child Dad)” and “Free My N—a.” The adverse response to the latter particularly — some critics contended that the music and music video contributed to the glorification of the incarceration of Black males — exemplified the vitriol that has moved some veteran feminine rappers to defend Sexyy.
“We don’t know what [Sexyy is] going to be speaking about on the third or fourth album, however proper now we’re speaking about the place we got here from,” Trina tells Billboard. “We’re speaking in regards to the backside. The gutter, the trenches, the dust, the slime, the scum. All of that. Some individuals have simply grown above it they usually’re not within the hood no extra, however everyone has not bought to that place but. You may’t count on them to be speaking about essentially the most lavish issues in life they usually haven’t addressed the place they from and what they’ve seen and the way they seen it. Give them an opportunity to develop. Give them an opportunity to raise. Give them an opportunity to evolve. They’re nonetheless younger girls. They’re nonetheless below 30 years previous. They nonetheless have time to do no matter they wish to do, however that is just the start.”
Sexyy’s imaginative and prescient and hope for hip-hop’s future is centered in the identical precept she has upheld since “Pound City” blew up: authenticity. For her, that’s the one method to know “who actually f–king with you if you’re simply being your self and never making an attempt to fake.”
And for her heroes — like Boosie BadAzz, the one artist she requested to listen to throughout her Billboard picture shoot apart from herself — it’s the explanation her voice is so wanted in rap proper now. Sexyy is “a woman from the hood who lastly bought her likelihood to talk and it’s accepted,” Boosie says. “After I take heed to her music, it’s like the women from my mission speaking. You bought to respect it or watch different individuals respect it. We bought a voice, too. The hood has a voice, too. Lots of people don’t respect it as a result of they don’t perceive it.”
Maybe that’s what the way forward for hip-hop seems like below a Sexyy Pink dynasty: a scene the place a younger lady can captivate a nation along with her personal perspective and narrative whereas additionally giving a voice to the place among the tradition’s most ignored movers and shakers come from — and the place none of that’s only a efficiency. As traditional, Sexyy places it greatest herself: “I’m simply doing me on this rap sh-t.”
