Honey the Hippie is an 18 year old up-and-coming rapper from Houston. Her new mixtape, Peace of Mind, takes you on a candid journey deep into the mind of a regular girl growing up and trying to figure out her way through life with an extraordinary talent in rap. What does that journey entail? Weed, vanity, social commentary, partying, rants and did I say weed?
Honey the Hippie starts off the album with a haunting verse about the troubles of a young girl growing up facing some of the problems females are exposed to because of societal pressures. For such a young woman, she definitely exudes maturity by offering some great insight into subjects such as war, as well as the troubles she faces on a daily basis. Honey the Hippie also has a great way of offering a fresh perspective on certain clichés and concepts. An example of this is on the track “Back to The Basics” where she starts off her verse with “Life’s not a bitch; it’s a dick that gets hard quick”. The track itself serves as a change of pace from Honey’s usual mellow chill vibe, as a track you can emphatically bob your head to. The standout track, “Psychadellic,” has a similar effect but even more so on“Back to the Basics”.
The beats are often lackluster and underwhelming, however, Honey the Hippie definitely makes some great decisions when it comes to sampling instrumentals. “Alien Interlude” takes the vocals from JMSN on the Game’s recent release, “Pray”. She also samples the Weeknd and Lauryn Hill which definitely improves the overall listening experience of the mixtape.
The mixtape, as well as Honey the Hippie, does have some flaws which can mostly be attributed to being so young and new in the game. At some points on the mixtape, it appears that Honey the Hippie becomes too focused on her flow that she becomes somewhat monotone, even though she does show signs of a wide range of pitch in her voice in other instances.
As of now, it seems the area of rap in which she has the most room for improvement is on her hooks. She definitely has the skill of creating an underlying catchy phrase for a hook but a handful of them are too repetitive and come off as mundane. Examples of these types of hooks can be found in “Ride”, “Good Vibes”, and “Chillin”. It seems as if some songs could use a bridge in order to build up to the simple repetitive hooks all the while creating a more complex and enjoyable song structure. Honey the Hippie could also implement adlibs and multiple vocal layers in her verses to reinforce what she is trying to say. This will also create a more musical experience from track to track.
In the end, the mixtape is still an enjoyable listen and it will be very interesting to see how Honey the Hippie develops in the future. She possesses many traits that can take her very far in her musical career such as her lyricism, flow and personality, but there is definitely much room for improvement. All in all it is such a treat to hear such a refreshing mixtape from such a young talent who is very genuine about whom she is. Ah…the wonders of the internet!
she need to make a song with childish gambino it would epic and awesome