With her third album WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA, Slayyyter channels the sounds of her adolescence to create her most authentic work to date. The St. Louis native, known for her high-energy dance-pop and electronic music, solidifies her stature as one of the most seminal voices in the pop music world with her new release.
Standout Tracks: CANNIBALISM!, CRANK, $T. LOSER
The album opens with “DANCE…,” which is the perfect opener for this project. “DANCE…” sets the stage for what this album is; it is a Slayyyter album through and through, but unlike any listeners have heard before. Despite having a more traditional “pop” sound to it, there is still a grit to “DANCE…” that Slayyyter has always utilized. When she sings, “Orange wine, fake smile / I’ll keep it real / Delusional, fuck how you feel,” Slayyyter adopts the attitude found in tracks from her self-titled mixtape, like “Ur Man.” It’s because of these various moments that call back to other Slayyyter projects that make WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA feel like a union of her previous works. Listeners can hear the influences of dance-pop music of yesteryear found on her second album Starfucker in songs like “UNKNOWN LOVERZ” and “GAS STATION.” Grittier songs like “CRANK” and “BEAT UP CHANEL$” could find a home on Slayyyter’s first album, Troubled Paradise. Yet, every song has an identity of its own; there is no mistaking one song for another here because of how expansive the album is. Slayyyter is not tied to one genre on this album, writing unapologetically without the constraints of the kind of music she is expeceted to make.
The album’s fourth track, “OLD TECHNOLOGY,” serves as the thesis for the album. On this track, Slayyyter sings, “You heard the song straight, straight off my iPod / Straight off the Tumblr blog.” The album takes listeners back to the kind of sleazy pop/electronic music of the early 2010s that young teens would find on sites like Tumblr. Despite the evocative nature of the album, WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA is not nostalgia slop. When asked about the album’s sound on her Tumblr account, Slayyyter wrote: “the sound is purely me. people are going to try to compare it to current artists which is soooOoooo annoying and annoys me already but micro trend terminology has no place here.” The album does not feel like one created with the intention of virality or one created in comparison or competition with other artists. It feels like an artist honing their skills and talents over the years to create their best, most daring work yet. WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA is the accumulation of all that Slayyyter has released from her Soundcloud days to present day.
“CANNIBALISM!” is arguably the standout on the album. The way Slayyyter sings, “Tell you I’m needing it, think about you every night,” is so incredibly sultry, helping to perfectly capture the alluring, haunting nature of the song. To be clear, she never sounded better. It feels unlike any Slayyyter song previously released. Although it is not raunchy like many of her other songs, it transcends the need to directly explain sexual acts to be considered a sexy song; the imagery, guitar, and production do this brilliantly.
“CRANK,” which is currently the most popular song on the album, contains lyrics that have already been joked about a million times over. Rightfully so! “I get so gay off that tequila,” is one of the most prominent lyrics in recent memory. However, even a lyric like this, which could easily be written off as vapid by certain listeners, has a tactility and edge to it. WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA has these kinds of lyrics found throughout its songs. On “$T. LOSER,” Slayyyter sings, “So pretentious, looking down at my St. Loser misery,” a play on words of her hometown, St. Louis, Missouri. Again, these are lyrics that could read as silly, and admittedly, sometimes they are. However, they are lyrics that have a texture to them that make listeners want to engage. “I’M ACTUALLY KINDA FAMOUS” serves a similar purpose to other hype, loud songs like “CRANK” and “$T. LOSER.” These tracks occupy a space that feel like classic Slayyyter; biting, reckless, and provocative.
The album’s closing track, “BRITTANY MURPHY.” is the biggest surprise on the album. The song is an ode to Brittany Murphy, one of Slayyyter’s icons. The actress, who passed away at 32, inspires Slayyyter to write about how she wants to be remembered. She writes, “Remember me beautiful / That sentiment probably ain’t true at all / Tell them I was such a funny girl / “Annoying”’s probably a better word.” This is a side to Slayyyter that fans rarely see in her lyricism. For the most part, she utilizes a confident, sexy persona that is almost untouchable. On “BRITTANY MURPHY,” however, Slayyyter is critical of herself in a way that feels completely new. This pushing of Slayyyter’s artistry is just a small part of what makes WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA her best work.
It is almost unfair that this is the album Slayyyter needs to follow up. This is – without a doubt – Slayyyter’s Magnum Opus. The greatest compliment one can afford an album like WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA is playing its songs in sweaty, dark clubs (particularly, the gay ones). Even before the album’s release, singles like “DANCE…” and “CRANK” found a home in these kinds of spaces. It may seem rash to say, but WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA already has a place in dance-pop/electronic/club music canon.
WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA has to be in “album of the year” conversations, not only because it is a damn great album, but because it feels necessary for culture. Almost everything, particularly in the music world, feels too clean, too boring, too safe, too conservative. With WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA, Slayyyter takes her usual audacious club music sounds and expands it to make an uncompromising, fun, dirty, sexy, evocative album unafraid to be everything it wants to be.
Listen to WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA here.