Whack World (Video Album)

At only 15 minutes in length (divided into 15 minute-long vignettes), Tierra Whack’s debut feels less like an album than a dollhouse, or a cartoon, or a perfect plate of canapés: brief, intricate, and orderly, but bursting with energy and imagination. Is she a rapper? Well, she raps. Is she a singer? She sings, too. But mostly, *Whack World* serves as an introduction to Whack’s restless creativity, distilling whole worlds of feeling—from carefree (“Pet Cemetery,” “Cable Guy”) to reflective (“4 Wings”), sultry (“Hungry Hippo,” “Flea Market”) to playfully threatening (“F\*\*k Off”)—in the time it takes most artists to finish the intro. Visually, *Whack World*—presented here as a short film to accompany the music—follows in the vein of artists like Hype Williams, Missy Elliott, and Outkast: hip-hop as kids’-show surrealism. “He likes my diamonds and my pearls/I said *thank you, I designed it*,” Whack chirps on “Hungry Hippo.” “Not your average girl.”