The Source presents: Double Take–a review series featuring the opinions of two writers as they explore different perspectives invoked by our favorite tracks.
Words by: Driune Santana & Johnnie Buck
Driune: “I just came in the game, and I’m doing damage.”
The self-proclaimed “Princess of Rap” Flo Milli puts on her best falsetto tone with a new sound, heavy on energetic beats and fun wordplay. She first caught the eyes of social media in 2018, releasing her first single, “Beef Flo Mix,” which is a remake of Playboi Carti’s and Ethereal’s 2015 song “Beef.” Last year, she followed with her debut project Ho, Why Is You Here? Fan favorites like, “In The Party”, “Send the Addy” and SWV sampled “Weak” had listeners walking around “Like That Bitch,”and the Alabama native doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.
Flo Milli jump-started the new year by releasing her new single, “Roaring 20s,” just a few days after celebrating her 21st birthday. Produced by Kenny Beats, who takes Topol’s 1964 song, “If I Were A Rich Man” from the musical Fiddler on the Roof, creating a modern-day version to fit Flo Milli’s rich bitch energy.
You know it’s a hit once you hear “Flo Milli Shit.” She opens up the track literally “dropping her nuts on a hater” as she raps about stereotypical men doing whatever they want by sleeping with multiple women, showing off their bankroll while dressed in the same clothes from four days ago, blowing money on watches, chains, and kush, then “hitting up the country clubs with my bros.” Flo Milli’s interlude between the first and second verse is the icing on the cake. As “If I Were A Rich Man” echoes in the background, we have to be thankful that Flo Milli isn’t a rich man because we wouldn’t have gotten this anthem for independent women to last us a lifetime. Her effortless flow gives you the confidence to tell a “broke boy, keep your distance,” knowing that he could never hit this.
Recently, Spotify announced Flo Milli as their newest U.S. RADAR artist. She will be featured on the Spotify RADAR playlist and will create a Spotify Singles recording and a mini-documentary to release later this year. Flo Milli spoke about her new single “Roaring 20s” and her growth during 2020.
“The Roaring 20’s was a period in the history of dramatic social and political change,” Flo Milli said. “Last year, I was able to break through during a very difficult time for not only our country but the world. Born in 2000 and having my breakout year in 2020, I feel like I’m living in the new age of the Roaring 20s.”
She describes the Roaring 20s as the birth of new independent women, who were known as flappers. Flo Milli also states that her lyrics, style, and lifestyle all reflect freedom, and she is in the Roaring 20s. This has fans hungry for a full-length project from Flo Milli and Kenny Beats, but we can only imagine what the Alabama rapper has in store this year.
Could we be reliving the “Roaring 20s” through Flo Milli’s eyes?
Johnnie: On “Roaring 20s,” Flo Milli hooks with undoubtedly one of the most creative producers, Kenny Beats, to cook up another hit. Kenny, who is most known for his Youtube channel “The Cave,” got his claim to fame after having comedian/rapper Zak Fox spit some outlandish bars in the booth during the show, creating one of the most referenced Tik Tok tracks “Jesus is The One.” While the song was completely hilarious the beat work done by Kenny Beats was also highly favored and even inspired other rappers such as Freddie Gibbs, Rico Nasty, 6lack, etc. to come on the show and drop a few bars.
On the show you will typically see Kenny make a beat prior to the artist going into the booth and in the same fashion Kenny went live about 8 months ago to show his process as he made the beat for Flo Milli’s “Roaring 20s.” Throughout the track you can hear how the “If I were a Rich Man” sample inspires Flo Milli as the Alabama native rapper flips the script to explain to us why “they should’ve never given her money” as a rich girl via her signature flo.
It underwrites crtitics greatest drawback from the upstart as she tends to use the same cadence, however it seems to compliment the track nicely. You’ll recall that the same crtique was offered of DaBaby early in his commerical success. While he took the opportunity to switch things up, however infrequently, it will be interesting to see if Flo Milli will take the same directive.
