St. Louis-born rapper Sexyy Red delivers her brazenly sexual lyrics in a humorous, carefree manner. Active since the 2010s, she broke through when her 2023 single "Pound Town" went viral, prompting a remix featuring Nicki Minaj and pushing her mixtape Hood Hottest Princess into the Billboard 200.

Heavily influenced by Southern rap from the 2000s, particularly Gucci Mane and Three 6 Mafia, Janae Wherry started rapping in order to write a diss song against an ex-boyfriend who cheated on her. She began releasing songs as Sexyy Red in 2018, and her first mixtape, Ghetto Superstar, appeared in 2021. "Born by the River," a 2022 single featuring Sukihana that references Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," received a degree of attention. Sexyy Red's true breakthrough came with the release of "Pound Town," a Tay Keith-produced track that originated as a studio freestyle. The song was released in January of 2023 and immediately became a TikTok favorite, receiving co-signs from several rappers and celebrities. Sexyy Red released a song titled "Female Gucci Mane" and was featured on tracks by NLE Choppa, Gloss UP, and Kaliii. "Pound Town 2," an official remix featuring Nicki Minaj, appeared in May and was included on Hood Hottest Princess, Sexyy Red's second mixtape. The release was met with positive press as well as controversy when it arrived in June, and it reached the Billboard 200 in July.

Jackson Mississippi native. Releasing music to clear my mind. Hope you can relate

Melanie Martinez's creative drive and talents have always distinguished her from other musicians. After releasing her platinum-certified 2015 debut album, Cry Baby—which reached No. 1 on Billboard's alternative albums chart and has amassed over two billion streams worldwide —she conceived and directed a video for each song on the album. These mini-movies traced the traumas and insecurities experienced by the album's character, Cry Baby.
 
Melanie’s sophomore album and film, K-12, is another ambitious triumph. K-12's music is a vibrant and singular melting pot of low-key hip-hop, soulful pop and indie-leaning electro. K-12's universe is an expansion of the one introduced in Cry Baby. Using lyrics rich with metaphor, songs address the struggle to find a place to belong—including within friendships, the physical world and romantically—even when fitting into society feels like an uphill battle.
 
To accompany the album, Martinez wrote and directed a 90-minute movie (also called K-12) that incorporates the album's music and mirrors the themes and characters introduced. Filmed on location in Budapest, Hungary, the movie focuses on Cry Baby (portrayed by Martinez) and a class of students who find themselves trapped in a horror house-like residential school. As they experience the usual grade school rites of passage—a lunch room food fight, the embarrassment of gym class, a romance with nefarious intentions, courses taught by checked-out teachers— they have to figure out a way to escape.

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