Worst Girl in America – Slayyyter Album Review
WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA by Slayyyter is not your parent’s dance music. Slayyyter’s newest release has rocked my world for the first time an album has in a very long time. Every piece of media regarding the album has said nothing short of simply: “listen to Slayyyter.” The loud and reckless club atmosphere that was poured into this album forces listeners to feel every beat.
Artists like Lady Gaga, Charli XCX, and Slayyyter create spaces where chosen identities can flourish and be centered, rather than hidden. They create cultural representation and indenity formation for LGBTQ+ audiences. Artists like these women are major representatives of queer voices and art. Slayyyter, the up-and-coming artist from the midwestern city St. Louis, MO, has been all the talk around town and online. She is getting noticed for her own self-expression and how many from the LGBTQ+ community feels and digests her music. Slayyyter takes her community and turns it into something visible, celebratory, and soon: mainstream. Slayyyter’s rise to fame is catchng many people’s attention with many mentions, even from the Grammy’s. Sources describe Slayyyter herself and her music as hyper-feminine, chaotic “trash-pop” persona that resonates with LGBTQ+ audiences through its embrace of excess, reinvention, and outsider identity. In my opinion, I believe Lady Gaga and Charli XCX are founders of queer nightlife for the late 2000’s culture and Slayyyter is closely following by forcing their music to be in your face and making it so fun and lively, everyone is forced to enjoy it. Her work communicates queerness through style and sound, allowing audiences to see it through the lens of contemporary pop.
The rise of the excitement came from her early release “CRANK,” and can be seen as the album’s breakout. The song captures all Slayyyter has to offer as it is aggressive and hypersexual, yet so lively and pleasurable. I would argue that “UNKNOWN LOVERZ,” is my personal favorite on the album as it connects the chaos in sound with emotional depth and relatability in the lyrics. Frankly, the tune scratches a part of my brain the right way and has been stuck in my head since the first listen. Pitchfork and I seem to relate to this album as writer Harry Tafoya describes the song as the prettiest on the album. I thoroughly believe this song is effective on the album as it captures the feeling of yearning and being vulnerable.
Popular music does not simply reflect queer identities; it actively participates in constructing them by circulating images, narratives, and affective experiences that challenge heteronormative expectations. Finding a voice through gay pop and entertainment allows queer visibility to be normalized and reinforced and the world will continue to see this from Slayyyter, along with many rising artists.
