Favorite albums of 2024: Almost There

Growing up, there was always a conversation around hip-hop concerning women, specifically that there weren’t very many female rappers. It wasn’t entirely true - there were plenty of women rapping, they just weren’t getting shine outside of the usual suspects like Da Brat, Lil’ Kim, Lauryn Hill, Foxy Brown, Eve and Queen Latifah. It’s not that these women didn’t make an impact or waves in the game - in fact it was the exact opposite and they are considered some of the all-time greats. But, they were just outnumbered by the, in comparison, enormous amount of men in the genre taking all of the shine.

Due to several factors, be it misogyny or lack of faith in women, many female rappers didn’t get their shine or praise until years later like Remy Ma or Gangsta Boo. Fast forward to 2025 and the entire rap game has changed, with women getting more of their deserved praise from the industry and fans alike due to changed opinions and the access to the genre given by the internet. Mixtapes can be posted at a whim on Soundcloud and if the right person finds you, or you know the right people, you can get put on.

While this ease of access and publicity has led to countless frauds and untalented losers entering the rap game (I’m looking at you Post Malone and Yung Gravy), it has also given a shot at stardom to female talent that might never have had a chance in the early 2000s. Due to the internet’s symbiotic relationship to rap, several acts broke through, most notably Nicki Minaj in the late 2000s. The door she opened back then led to other acts like Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion and, most recently, Doja Cat and GloRilla.

In between now and then, the underground scene has been bubbling with talent as even more women brought bars and lyrical talent to the table. Enter TiaCorine, who had a viral hit in 2022 with “FreakyT,” a Memphis-flow borrowing and has had a steady, understated rise since. The 32-year-old from North Carolina is an amalgam of what makes a good, fun rapper. She uses a spectrum of zany, goofy voices and flows that travel from California to New York to Tennessee and then all the way back.

She is obsessed with anime, adopting a “kawaii” style of her own centered around pink, purple and other colors found in a bag of skittles. She has lyrics that make you do a double take (Did she just say his dick needs a pep talk?) and think about them for the next few weeks. She’s really fun, but with heart and a clear vision for what a TiaCorine song should sound like. The few features that there are, including Key Glock and Luh Tyler, do their job and leave Tia to wrap the rest of the track up. The dreamy “Yung Joc,” which opens the tape, has a dreamlike quality to it, contrasting the absurd non-sequiter bars about making babies, making cash and wondering why her man can’t fuck with his socks off. “Blick” is exactly what it sounds like, with a beat that sounds like Tia and Glock are chasing you down with said blick for two minutes. When I saw her in concert last year, she brought out a water gun during “Blick” and drenched the crowd.

In 2025, I hope we see a lot more from TiaCorine and more female rappers in general. She fills the lane of the genre where it’s not all about explaining yourself or rationalizing why she, or other women, deserve to be in hip-hop. Tia isn’t proving herself. She’s already on her way to where she wants to be.

Favorite tracks: Yung Joc, Olive, Bonnet, Shamone.