“Body of Water” by Tierra Whack
According to Tierra Whack, she was directly influenced bythe artistry of Outkast when putting this song together. And that sorta makes sense when you consider the incohesion, if you will, of “Body of Water”.
That is not simply that Outkast songs aren’t themselves cohesive. On the surface many of them may sound like lyrical mumbo jumbo, but once you actually read the lyrics, it would be revealed that they’re about a singular topic.
And due to the Outkast-paced speed at which Tierra Whack is rapping, certain lyrics of this song may be hard for the ear to catch also. However, upon reading them, it is actually revealed that this is a multi-subjected piece.
Part of the confusion as to what “Body of Water” is truly about is founded in the fact that Whack herself has defined in a way in which it may not read to some listeners. You know how female musicians are always saying that they believe we should all feel free to love who we want and be who we want, etc.? That is also how Tierra has described the meaning of this song.
But if the listener approaches it with that understanding in mind, they may find themselves confused, as for instance the vocalist basically utilizes the first in the name of dissing rivals who are not as successful as she is.
The Love Theme
Then in the pre-chorus after that, quite unexpectedly the lyrics transform into more of a love song, where Whack expresses her affection for the addressee as well as a desire for the two of them to “get old together”. And such an idea continues into the second verse, where she even uses the term “soulmates”.
Race means Nothing!
Now it is also in the second verse where this concept of universality, if you will, comes into play. Here, we find the vocalist implying that she does not racially discriminate when it comes to romance. And such a concept dominates the bridge also, though in that case in a more ambiguous fashion. There, we find Tierra alluding to the idea that when it comes to befriending a person, their character is more important than their race or what have you.
The Chorus
And as for the actual chorus, whereas it also idolizes a strong, exciting relationship between the vocalist and addressee, again it doesn’t use any romantic language.
What “Body of Water” is all about
So conclusively, it’s like this song, subject-wise, is split into three segments. The first verse is along the lines of standard braggadocio rap.
But the rest of the track is romantic on one side of the coin and shall we say motivational on the other, with the two topics being intermingled at will. And in that latter regard yes, it can be said that the vocalist is encouraging listeners to do their respective thing. Or viewed differently, Tierra’s main criteria when befriending someone is their authenticity, not any type of superficial classification that they may fall under.
Who is Tierra Whack?
Tierra is a hip-hop musician from Philadelphia. She has thus far come out with one studio album (2018’s Whack World) and a handful of EPs. Actually all three of her EPs were released in December of 2021, within two weeks of each other.
“Body of Water”
This track is from the second of those efforts, Pop?, which came out on 9 December 2021 via Interscope Record.
Tierra wrote this song alongside the track’s producer, another Philly-based musician known as J Melodic.
It is not abundantly clear if “Body of Water” was officially released as a single. However, it was granted its own music video, on top being heavily promoted by Tierra Whack.
