Girl Power is Glorious

In Tune is The NewsHouse’s weekly album review. Contributors Sarah Dorval and Annie Labarca cover new releases across genres.

On Oct. 11, Memphis rapper GloRilla spoiled fans with her second release of the year – her debut album Glorious. Though her mixtape Ehhthang Ehhthang dropped just six months prior, it seems like GloRilla can’t stop putting out hits.

Fifteen-track album Glorious explores the ideas of religion and empowerment through the lens of Southern hip-hop, trap, and occasionally gospel. The album, bolstered by features from artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Latto, Sexyy Red, T-Pain and Kirk Franklin, even secured GloRilla a top-five spot on the Billboard 200.

While Glorious may be her first album, by no means is GloRilla new to the music scene. Ever since her single “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” blew up in 2022, all eyes have been on her. About four months prior to the release of Glorious, GloRilla dropped the single “TGIF” which garnered her over 102 million streams on Spotify and quickly became the single girl anthem. This track, much like the rest of Glorious, uses catchy lyrics to empower women while simultaneously turning gender stereotypes on their heads.

“HOLLON,” track two of Glorious, kicks off with a sample from DJ Unk’s “Hold on Ho,” instantly creating a chant you can’t help joining. GloRilla asserts her strength in this song through not only her lyrics (“I got hands for a ho”) but with a hard-hitting beat and a heavy bass. She flips the script on traditional roles when she raps “Asked if he my only n****, I said, ‘No, but you my favorite one’” and “Nah, I can’t make you mines, but I can make you c*m.” Besides being a great song to reinforce the narrative of empowered women, it’s honestly just catchy.

Another hit comes on track five with GloRilla and Sexyy Red’s collaboration “WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME.” It’s no surprise that this song, with its high energy and addicting ad-libs, ranks second in Spotify streams. Sexyy Red and GloRilla expertly play off each other’s energy, and when you’re singing along with these lyrics, you can’t help but feel yourself. “WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME” is the ultimate hype track that reminds us there’s nothing wrong with being a little conceited – as Glo says, “I’m that b*tch, ho, get like me.”

Track ten brings a highlight of the album, “HOW I LOOK (feat. Megan Thee Stallion),” marking the duo’s second collaboration this year. Immediately, the beat screams Megan Thee Stallion, but instead of overshadowing GloRilla, Megan skillfully compliments her performance.

GloRilla uses this song as a way of calling attention to her success, asserting that there’s really no competition for her when it comes to talent or appearances. Megan echoes this, rapping “If he meet me, better pack it up ‘cause bitch you know it’s over.” She further tries to empower women by challenging the purity culture often forced upon us, flipping the script to a more traditionally masculine perspective with lyrics like “How I look confessin’ to these n***** ‘bout my bodies? / When he a hoe too, and he still gon’ give me sloppy.”

No matter the song, Glorious is able to empower the girls by continuously emphasizing women’s strengths, encouraging self-confidence, and daring us to fight back by treating men the way they’ve always treated us. Like any album, it does have a few misses (especially when it comes to GloRilla’s solo tracks) but the overall lyricism and positive message behind Glorious is enough to ensure its success regardless.