The Modern Frida

Just Keke | How She Turned Headlines Into Art | Album Review

• Jennifer Valdez • Episode 83

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 From the album’s three-act structure to its bold visuals, I dive into how Keke turns real-life headlines into art—mixing vulnerability, humor, and her unstoppable triple-threat energy into a project that honestly deserves way more love!

If you’ve ever wondered whether Just Kiki is worth your time—or if Keke has real space in music—this conversation will help you hear it with a new perspective.

Send me a Text! Tell me what you thought of the episode🫶🏽 include your name if you’d like a shout out on the next episode!

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  Hello and welcome to the Modern Freedom Podcast. On today's episode, I'm gonna be doing a mini album review on just Kiki by Kiki Palmer. And I'm gonna be going over what I did like didn't like we should be looking out for. And honestly, this episode is for you if you've been skeptical of even listening to it, if you haven't listened to it, but you're a Kiki Palmer fan.

This is your episode because I was skeptical straight up. I was skeptical. I, I love Kiki Palmer. I love everything she has done. To be honest, I've been a fan since she did the movie. Just, is it, what is it? By, with Corbin Blue, God. I forget the song, it's the Jump Rope movie. That one, even though like I wasn't there for her true Jackson VP era, I kinda came back to her when she started doing her skits like on TikTok and I was like, oh, Kiki Power.

And then it's been really incredible to see her evolve, which by the way, there will be a part two uh, to this because this is focusing on the album. But I read her master of me. Book recently in preparation for this episode, and there was so much that I learned from her and that I feel we can learn as.

Creatives. Um, so stay on the lookout for that. But let's just get into this. What I loved about this album is that she, there's several things I loved about this album, by the way, but one of the things she did really well is that she. Used interludes with purpose, they made sense. I feel like a lot of times, um, when artists do interludes in their albums, in their body work, they, they don't make sense all the time.

I'm just kinda like, why is this an interlude? Why is this here? Um, it doesn't, it didn't really add anything to the upcoming song. And in this album she does, she starts with. Act one, she's an actress and throughout this whole album, she is giving us parts of her. Like it's kind of like she took the last, honestly, I don't wanna say the last 10 years, I wanna say like her whole career and sprinkled it.

Into this album and I'm here for it. I have not listened to her other music and I didn't even know she had other music, to be honest, up until recently. But we start with Act one, which to me is like, you know, the intro. And she does really great at setting the scene with Act one and the song Off script, which right away she's giving us the tea, she's giving us what this album is about, which I love.

She's setting this, the scene, the mood, and it's kind of like taking this moment. In time that she could have brushed off easily, which was a scandal with her then. Boyfriend, uh, Darius, I believe is his name, when she went to the Usher concert and was wearing this see-through black dress, and he went on Twitter and was like, no, mother should be out there wearing that dress.

Right. And she could have just one put it under the, you know, put it under the rug. She could have just done the song with Usher, called it good, but. Not and, but she decided to make a whole album off of it. I don't wanna say just because of that reason, but this album does touch a lot on that relationship and not just what happened there, but I love that she was so vulnerable and opening to us about what was happening behind the scenes, what happened that night, and when I.

Furthermore, what I do love too as well is that that incident happened, I believe in 20 23, 2 years ago. The album just came out three months ago in June, so something that, again, she could've just. Swept under the rug. She was okay with addressing it. She was like, no, I'm gonna own it. Like y'all can say whatever y'all want in the media, but this is actually what happened.

Whereas a lot of other artists, they sometimes choose not to, or they are sometimes vague as to what happens in their personal lives. And that's fine, I think, to all their own. And I think it also depends on. A lot of factors, but I love that Kiki is very okay with owning it and talking about it because that's just who she is as well.

She's very upfront, is a vibe I've always gotten, is not afraid to just be honest and off script. One of the more memorable lines is. You still think that I don't love you even though I let you get me pregnant. And it's, and the way she shouts it, even though, how does it, even when I let you get me pregnant, oh shit.

Then forgive me for my vocal job. But also there is a whole visual album paired to this. So even if you, like, if you. If you love visuals, go to YouTube and you can, and I think the whole thing is about like 30, it's, it's less than 30 minutes, it's 27 minutes. You can go watch the whole visual, listen to the album, and it gives, it does give visuals like it's so well executed.

And I love that. She also, it's, I wanna say it was produced by her production team. And what I mean by that is that she has her own. Digital Media Network, key tv, which I'm, I was a little, I'm still a little confused as to what it is, but I think it's just because it's newer. Uh, it's like instead of being on television, like, you know how you have like BET and Nickelodeon and whatnot, it's on online, on YouTube, so it's key tv and she's able to not just produce her own work, but also be supportive of other.

Independent artists and like just create things under her own wing. I hope that makes sense. All that to say is that she is investing in herself, like this was all her, which makes it even great and we'll definitely talk about that in the next episode. But so the fact that she did all this under her own.

Company shows how much she's grown, but also it is impressive. It is very impressive. This was no like half-ass production. So Yeah, because she's setting it as a, if it was a sitcom, right, and then she wakes up and you know, there's a lot of monologues, which I love. Okay, so I just went and refreshed my memory of the video off script.

Holy the heck, y'all. She spicy, spicy, spicy, like hot. Um, she's over here in the shower. Orange. The lighting is. The lighting. The lighting. The lighting. That's all I gotta say. The lighting on this is epic. She's just owning it. That's what I love. She's owning it. She's owning. Her everything, her sex appeal, her her beauty, her fierceness, her who she is, and she's in like this suit and tie, like, 'cause she's that bitch.

She's, she's a boss. She's a boss. She's giving boss. Okay. So that is the more memorable thing of that song, off script, which is like, even though, uh, what did she say? Yeah, you get me pregnant. And when I, the song came out, I was singing on. Threads, um, people's comments on this that Kiki, that it could have been a good album, but she's too Disney.

Or she's like, if this was a Disney album or something, which I then saw that Kiki defended it. She's like, that's fine. Like, I'm okay with being compared to Disney because Disney is great. I don't see no shame on that. So if you wanna say that, that's cool, and, but I don't understand that. I listen to this whole album and it does not give Disney to me.

The lyrics don't give Disney to me. Um. I dunno why people would shade her that way because I don't, I personally don't see it. Um, especially giving the context of the music. I, I just don't, so off script, that's off script. Next song is, well, what does Sharon say? Which is another interlude. Oh yeah. So I don't know.

I don't know if I like the title of this, of this song, but I, I'm gonna read this to you out because it's an interlude. Again, she's just giving us context as to like, she's narrating her own story. So she's like, I bet you're wondering how I got here. She's like, yeah, I don't wanna say it was love at first sight, but it was looking good.

And you know what I'm saying? He was my boo. And it's crazy how it happens overnight, like that one day you're a stranger and the next day you're in love. So now, so she went from. Giving. She went from being in the present to now going to the past. We're traveling to the past, which I love, and that moves us to the next song, which is 125 degrees.

Okay. And this song she's given, like, she's a grown ass woman, which I love. Like she's kind of, like I said, she's growing before, before us, but it kind of takes us back to kind of like when she met this guy, because she's saying when you're sneaky, when you're sneaky link turn into your man. 'cause Cupid has a different plan.

So it's kind of like, you know, they were just fooling around and next thing I know, you know, they're falling in love and she, her lyrics is more explicit than. What I was thinking it was going to be. It was a really nice surprise, honestly. Um, she's like, I got your t-shirt and no panties on. I ain't just acting grown.

Let me get the skin. The skin. I don't wanna smell like your cologne, no panties on. I met, I met a stranger in my heart. So like those were very graphic. Lyrics, very graphic visuals, if you're asking me, and again, for someone to say, this is Disney is insane to me. But I love that in the visuals, like in that music video, it says, this is a dramatic reenactment, or like, this isn't real.

Like don't think that just because I, you know. Because people sometimes might take things a little too realistic. Okay, so then after off script, we got anonymous, which was, I get, Ooh, this was a lot of these songs she's giving very sul, she's very sultry in this album and I'm here for it. Like, not only was she okay with sharing how, you know, there was a heartbreak and this embarrassment of, so to speak, of.

This public scandal, but she's also okay with being like, well, I do love him. I do love my then my baby daddy, even when we were together, now that we're not together, um, I'm not ashamed of it. Like it's very real, like how she met, how they ended up being together. And in this song. I wanna say it's about him as well, because I mean, who else would it be about, I guess?

Um, but she's kind of going about what she loves about this guy, you know, and that's, it's like she's singing it to him, like, you know, very endearing and I love that. And how, like, why it is that she chose him, you know, she opened up something inside her that had been closed and there's something about him that just.

Gets to her, you know, and then we get a Kiki and a Bee, a Kiki and a Bee, which is another interlude. And yeah, she's referencing, what is it, Quie and the Bee. I've never seen that movie, can believe that I. I've heard of it a lot and I've never, I need to see it, but I love, I love how she referenced to it because even if you never watched the movie, you've seen clips about it.

You know? It's about spelling bee this girl and she ultimate speller. I guess I, I know there's probably. More to it. But that's the gist of it. And I'm not, I'm gonna leave this to y'all, like, I don't wanna spoil it to y'all because I, she, she's so funny. Like she's just not afraid to go there. There's just, her personality is definitely showing through this and that.

That's, like I said, she did interludes hella well. And this is a great example of it. Moving on to track seven, my Confessions, which you can guess of course, was inspired by ushers, my confession and his involvement, and the scandal. And she's addressing, this is a song where she is addressing that moment.

Summer 23 was, it was in Vegas. Broke up with me. So basically they were in Vegas. He broke up with her. She was just trying to have a good time after that and trying to forget what happened. And she was out with the girls, not trying to do anything else, but just have a good time. And now he wants to come over here and say all this nonsense.

And then what I love about this song too is that although it's called confessions and it's, it's a nod to usher and like what happened? And she uses that, but it's not so, it's not corny. It's not so like, it's not like a, she didn't use the beat from my confessions, even in the music video, she didn't do, it's just not so direct.

And I love that. It's just these are her confessions and I love how she. She did the lyrics to it. Honestly, I love the melody. I love everything. I love how she just, basically, how she used the reference. I thought it was well done. It was very tasteful. It was in gimmicky. And this one actually had one of my fa, one of my favorite, uh, more memorable, I wanna say more memorable, uh, visuals.

It was one of my, it was one of my favorite visuals, but at the same time, it had one of my least favorite things. So. It's her confessions. Right. And this one's a little too literal for me. She did, and, and it's funny 'cause the, the song to me isn't literal in the reference, but the music video was a little too much in the sense that she used my confessions as in she's in the cathedral.

And kinda like a confessional. And to me that I wasn't the biggest fan of that. But what I did really enjoy about that music video is that towards the end she had, she's doing like this choreo, this dance choreo, which I thought was so lovely. I love the movement of her dress and how she's doing it. It's just very, it's a little poetic.

I gonna say, she can dance. That girl can dance and you have to see it. But I was not like, I wouldn't expect a dance choreo to this. To this song, but she put it there and it made sense and I love it. And I'm say it saved the music video for me because other than that, I don't think I would've been a fan.

So moving on to Attract eight. Exposed this one. She is, she is. She ain't holding back. She's like, who the fuck do you think got you? Who put those rocks in and you'll watch and you wanna be over here? Like he, you wanna act a certain way all whatever, high and mighty I guess. But who's taking care of you?

Ooh, and yeah, because he is saying like, you're trying to get revenge. You wanna see me spit? Can we make it work again? Huh? I love the way she delivered the lyrics in the song that was exposed. Then we get to another interlude, Ooh, act two. The cool thing about this intro is that it's done to a Sex in the City beat.

I don't think it's the exact song used in six in the city intro, but it gives those vibes again, she is inserting. A sitcom in here, or her acting roots and pop culture television. I love it. I'm here for it. You have to listen to it. Great. Fucking inter interlude, tasteful. And that act two jumps us into tea.

Boo woo. Woke up in the morning. I looked at me. Way too fine. Too fine to be okay. This song is supposed to be giving tea. She's spilling the tea, but, and, and she does give tea, but I don't think the tea was that hot, to be honest. But it's a good song. It grew on me. The music, I, when I first saw a clip of this music video online, I wasn't the biggest fan until I saw the full complete music video, and.

She's kind of, she's giving breakfast at Tiffany's on some of the clips online, but if you look at the whole entire music video, it's more than that and I love it. But she has this, uh, she's in like a Marie Antoinette wig and corset type of dress and like, let them eat cake or you know, having tea. I guess, yeah, it's like they're having tea and they also have like, you know, great dance choreography as well.

They're doing, they're, you know, and that's tea Boo. And like they put their pinkies up and pretend they're having tea and I love it. It's, it's great. Honestly. Well done the music video. And the beat was a little, I don't even know if I was the biggest fan of it at first. Like it's just the, the, at the end of the day she is gonna do her unapologetically.

I don't think she's trying to like do a top five billboard hit or something. She's just doing music 'cause she wants to do music. She is owning it after having some bad experiences in the past. Um, according to her book, she's now owning. A space that she didn't think that people kind of told her she didn't belong in also in fashion.

That's why we've really seen an evolution in her fashion as well. And that's why this, what makes this album so great from her previous work is that she's owning a lot of what other people might've told her she couldn't do in the past. So yeah, it's a fun little, a fun little track. And that's Tea. Boo.

Now that's tea. Ooh. Incoming. My favorite. Track from the album, which is Amnesia. I love this track because, uh, my favorite part of it is, well, first of all, she starts with the, with the, you know, it's your girl and you know, from the Megan Thee stallion. Interview and again, a Kiki reference that. So yeah, now that I'm thinking about it, she put a lot of her viral moments into this album, not just the baby daddy drama viral moment, but also like the other, I didn't know she was such a meme queen until doing research, but she, for one person, she has a lot of iconic memes out there.

Something I didn't even know. Uh, were a thing. The first time I heard this song, sorry to that man Broke Boy Amnesia. Um, sorry, so sorry to that man. That is actually also a meme reference. She is doing a light detector test, if I'm correct, and they ask her, do you know who this man is? And it's a photo of Dick Cheney, who honestly I wouldn't have know.

I wouldn't also have known who the heck that man was. 'cause I think it was like him also being older and she's just like. I'm sorry to that man, but I don't know him. She's like a sorry to that man. And for some reason it became a meme and people just ran with it. But I love that she put that in here.

'cause, and it's also, if you, if you didn't know it now, you know, but if you didn't know, I love how she inserted it in this song. And I, I also love the line 'cause baby, I'm a mother, I'm a motherfucking keeper. Uh, Ooh. He can keep her back. So she might not he, no, it's, see, you can't always trust. The lyrics on Genius because it says he can keep her bag, so she might not see her, but I don't think it says, uh, Kiki.

Kiki keep a bag, so he might not see her. Unless she changes it at the, let me see. No, it's Kiki, keep a bag. So she, he might not see her. And Kiki. Kiki keep a bag. That's a little bit of a tongue twister. It's a name she's been given because. Kiki keep a job is actually the reference. But ke Kiki keep a bag because she always has a job.

Which is funny because I watched a interview, uh, her, one of her podcasts, interviews recently with Law Law Roach, and even he said he is like, Kiki, keep a bag. Like she, you know, you always doing something. And again, she put that in here. I love it. And also, you wouldn't know this unless you write a book.

But I, I don't think this was done intentionally, but I love that we can make the connection if you wanted to. Someone asked her what her favorite cuss word is, and she said, motherfucker, I don't think it was a book, actually. It could have been a, uh, I might have seen a clip online. I don't remember where.

But anyways, she said her favorite word is cuss word is motherfucker. And what do you know? This, that? That she, honestly, it's very catchy in the song. 'cause baby. Yeah, I'm a mother. I'm a motherfucking keeper. Kiki, keep back. So you might not see her. Just because I want you doesn't mean that amnesia. Sorry to that man.

Broke boy. Yeah. Amnesia also. Sorry. Okay. The broke boy. Amnesia. Amnesia. When was the last time you heard that word? Amnesia in a song? I don't know. I love it though. Like, and. It's like, boy did you hit your head on the wall too hard that you forgot who you were, that you forgot who the fuck I was. I love it.

So that's my favorite song in the whole album. Uh, let me see what the visual was for this. I did forget Brooke William Amnesia. Is there even a, you know, it's your girl. Hi, my name is me. Don't treat me like I'm regular. Ooh. And that's actually another part that I, I love is that hi, don't treat me like I'm regular.

It's like when you talk to me, watch how you speak. And that's another thing. It's like she ain't gonna let you forget. Who she is in her book, she mentioned how some people wanted to compare her to another actress, which, which I think it was Zendaya, and they were trying to say like if she was a, a lighter skin of color, she would've had more opportunities or she would've been a bigger star or something, and she had to check them.

It's like, no, like she as. Her being a woman of color, she's had a lot of great successes and opportunities. She was like the first black woman to place in Gorilla on Broadway. Um, she's had a lot of firsts. I think she was the, she was the first one to win, uh, as an Emmy award or some type of award. I already forgot.

Forgive me for not knowing it at the moment, but she has had. A lot of first, a lot of great success accolades in her career, and for someone to come in here and try to make her feel like she ain't. She hasn't accomplished as much because of her skin color. She's gonna check you. She's like, put some respect on my name, please.

And she clearly says, like on her book, actually put some respect on my name because no, I ain't having, I ain't having that. Next we have same shit, different toilet. Which I don't remember that being the name of the track. I don't remember the song being like that, but, and in this track she's just kind of talking to her homegirl and it's like, do you think he's dating someone else?

Like, do you think he's talking to other women? And they're like, nah, they're not. And then, uh, it's very comical though. I, I love it. It's very short and sweet, which jumps us into the next, uh, the, the song I wanna know. And it's basically her either finding out that he was already. Messing around with other women and she found out, and then she's like, you know, she's having all those thoughts of like, well, what was it like?

Was she better than me? Did you make her moan? Like, did you give her the best time? Did she give you the best time? And she paints a very. Straightforward picture with the song. Um, she's like, even though it hurts me, so even though it makes me crazy, it make me wanna fight that hoe she was getting loving for my baby.

I bet she says she want him more. 'cause I know I'd be wanting more. So even though like she's saying like, even though like they're clearly having conflict and he's over there messing with other women and like she, she kinda doesn't care. That's what the intro actually established is like, it's like we ain't together, but like I doubt he's seeing other women.

Like kind of confident in being that, but then turns out not really, he is missing out with other women and it's just kind of like wondering about that and try not to go crazy thinking about that. Honestly, I wouldn't want to know about it, but she clearly does. She wants to know the details. Okay. The last song on act two is Ripples, which I love.

It's a little short song, but I love it because I, I do think it's difficult sometimes. For PE artists to execute well. Songs about things that aren't related to let's say, love or money or whatever you hear regularly on the charts or on the radio. Um, but she's taught ripples. Like ripples. What a great fucking analogy for the impact you are, you have made in your family with your success.

Not just you, but. The generations before you, or I kind of ask kinda how I take it. 'cause she's like, I came from my mama and my mama's mama, mama call it rip, call it ripples over water. Watch it drip all over me. And now that I think about it, her. In in the music video, she's dressed in blue, like a turquoise blue ripples blue water.

I love that. I don't know if that was a connection, but now that I'm thinking about it, it could be. And so she's like, I know that my baby and my baby's baby baby gonna be good 'cause the apple don't fall from, fall from the tree. Don't fall far from the tree. So meaning like even though like she, things aren't working out with her baby daddy.

She's gonna be fine. Her baby's gonna be fine. Her baby's baby's gonna be fine because she's got her, he's got her blood in her, in him. And he comes from a great family. She's great. So he's gonna be great. And his baby, like she's already setting them up for success, her family up for success. And that's another thing she does feature her family in this music video, which I loved.

Um, verse two, she says, look at all this generational wealth in the building. Shout out to my girls that raise hell raising millions. Never could have done it myself, made a living pursuing what I am all thanks to them. She'll see something Kiki will always do is give thanks to her family because with, she knows that without her, them, she would be nobody.

Like they risk sacrificed so much to give her the opportunities to, to act, to do her, to pursue her career. So that's a really fun song. So I think all the, like, now that I think of all of act two is a little bit more dancing, it does have a lot of. You know, kind of dance vibes to it. And then Act three is just, um, her getting a phone call from her booth saying, Hey, Kiki, it's me.

So we go from act one where she's setting the story, she's giving us present, past and future kind of, or just present in the past, like, uh. You know what happened, but how did they not then kind of like doing a flashback to when they met and how they fell in love and ended up with a baby, which I love.

And then on the second one, it's kind of like when, when it gets really messy, the second act is where things got really messy and they were in the thick of it. And it's just kinda like them going back and forth and being ugly towards each other. And then. By Act three, the waters have already kind of, they're calming.

The waters are calming. They are kinda at the end of the, the, on the other side and have whether the storm or, and are in a better place. So we have, unless it's you, which is one of her. Best tracks vocally. So without a doubt, Kiki has a voice and I am excited to see how she develops it in the future. I feel like she's only at the beginning with her music.

Um. And I think that what I love about Kiki is she's gonna give us what she wants, and I love that. 'cause it'll be authentic to her. Even if it's not what's in right now or whatever. Doesn't matter she's doing, she's gonna do her the best way that she can be because she's the master of me, which is one of the biggest lessons on her book is that even though she can do many things, at the end of the day, she's just learning how to do her, what she does best, who she is best, and she's gonna.

She's gonna own it and she's gonna go. As far as she can with it, I think though I do think though, if she were to pair up with the right producer, she has a spot in music. She definitely does because she's very versatile and I feel like this is just the beginning. She can give a lot of girls. Um, a run for their money.

Honestly, a lot of artists, because she can act, she can story tell, she can honestly, the beats, uh, the production was not bad on this album. It was really well done. I must say. All, everything, all of it. From choosing 'cause it could be so tricky. It could, all of this could have been very gimmicky. All the intros could have been very gimmicky the way that she kind of told it, like if you're watching.

It's watching a sitcom. Like if you do, if you do watch the visuals, the, the music videos, it's very sitcomish, which I love, but visually it works. But it didn't, it might have not have worked mu musically, you know, like when you're listening to the songs. But her, their producers did really well at choosing the, choosing the correct sounds from it.

And this one is just, it's a very beautiful ballad. It's very devoting. It's like a devotion of love to this person that even though they've gone through this, like at the end of the day, it's him. Like she's the, that's her person. And even though they're not even together at this moment in time, like she's always gonna have love for him.

That's her baby daddy. That's the father of her son. And I, I, that's that such a vulnerable song, I believe to sing at the end of this, like you, she went through this very public scandal and. Like, you know, he embarrassed her. She probably did bad to him and all that. In the end, she's still okay with singing a love song to him and it's a beautiful, but I, I love this song.

I think it's one of, again, one of my other favorites because her vocals are just incredible and I feel like at times, like she can do anything. 'cause I feel there's another song, I'm not sure which one it was, but it kind of gave SZA for a moment because she, she is also an impersonator. She can do impersonations, so.

I think when, but she's definitely owning. She loves, like I said, like the nineties vibes and stuff, Y 2K, early two thousands. So maybe that al that will always be her. And that's fine because I think people, there's people out there who still like that music and she just gotta really. Sharpen that craft of hers.

That's that sound for her. And then we get to like the last song song on the album, which is misunderstood. Not one of my favorite ones, but I do love that she closes the album. Well, we have one last out. We have the outro, but song. Song complete song wise. Um. I love that she does close out the album and closes the story because then it wouldn't be a complete album, in my opinion, and it would've felt short.

But she gives us a conclusion at the end of the day. She waved her white flag, called it truth because in the end they were just hurting each other and you know, they're both losing. And then finally we have our last interlude out, which is not actually, it's an outro. Um. Which is the end closing out the, the show.

Right. And she's, she, she closes it like as she was hosting the whole show. You have to go watch the visuals, listen to the album in order to understand. But I think it was great overall, great lyrics, storytelling, production was great. Feel, I think I did at first, I was gonna come on here and say is that I didn't like the album title, which is just Kiki because.

She's not just Kiki, she is the Kiki. She's Kiki Palmer, which I think even then I maybe would've preferred also to have the title this album named Kiki Palmer. Not even, maybe like I, I don't know. I almost want to say like something with tea, because tea is referenced a lot and she is spilling the tea.

She's spilling her own tea. She even says in one of the songs. So I feel like that she could have maybe. Done something with that. But right before I came on here, I saw a clip. 'cause I there, I saw that there was references to Moisha, the show. I've never watched the show. So apparently there's references on this album or the visuals and I think the audio to that show.

But anyways, Brandy came on as a guest on Kiki Palmer's show, which I didn't know she had a show. She was the youngest She, she is the youngest talk show host. At the time, I believe she had her own at 20, I think she was like 20, 21, and it was called just Kiki, which I fucking loved. Then I was like, okay. I, I kind of love that because again, something I I loved throughout this album is how she took a lot of her viral moments, her movie projects that she's done, um, everything that's kind of happened in her life.

She took bits and pieces and she put it into this. She sprinkled it onto this album really well. And just Kiki kind of was icing on the cake for me. I'm like, okay, fine, fine, you, it's fine. It's a fine name, but I, I do think it could have been. A different, I don't know. What are your thoughts? I just don't, it just didn't, this is a no for me, but I'm like, okay, I'll accept it.

And lastly, her on the cover, she's kind of like propped up like a doll, like if she was in the box set, because she says that she, there's. Dam Googled it. She says, I'm reading some quote online saying that this, it says, Kiki Palmer unveils cover art for her new album, just Kiki and the inspiration behind her album packaging.

This is the reframe of all reframes. Not over the perceptions others have had of me, but all the ones I've had for myself for survival. So I love that. So she's not reframing the stories that other people have made of her, but the ones she's made of herself in order to survive her career. Okay. I actually found this post that gives more context into the album cover because I didn't know exactly, but basically she unveiled the upcoming art for her album, and it's a tripper triple threat doll modeled after herself.

The artwork celebrates her talents with the tagline she sings. She dances. She acts. But as Palmer explains, this album is more than just a display of her, dis of her abilities. It is a reflection of her personal evolution. She's reflecting on her journey. Since character is a tool to dismantle perceptions around identity, and even still, each box encrypting a new set of roles and limitations.

She describes the project as a turning point. There comes a moment when performance stops being a mask and starts being a mirror. When your persona doesn't protect you, it reveals you. Ooh, ooh. That's a fucking quote right there. When your persona doesn't protect you, it reveals you. Something to keep in mind for us artists as we sometimes create personas to help us cope with.

Just being out there honestly and doing what we have to do in order to be successful. A great way to end this album review. I hope you give it a listen. I hope you give it a chance because it is definitely worth the listen, and I hope y'all enjoy this episode. Let me know if you enjoy it. Please share it on your story.

Share it with a friend. Leave me a comment on Spotify. Send me a message on Instagram. I'd love to hear from y'all. Please stay tuned for the next episode, which we're gonna be diving into what we can learn from her. And also, if you enjoy album reviews, I did one on, uh, cowboy Carter and Camila Caveo.

Definitely check those out and I will see y'all in the next episode. Bye.