Earlier this year, Philadelphia MC Tierra Whack demonstrated her affinity for sports through “76”, a hype track meant to rally the city behind their basketball team as the playoffs approached. Her newest track, “8”, also relates to sports, albeit in a very different manner as the song will find a home on the soundtrack to EA’s “Madden NFL 22” video game.
The instrumental contains a thumping bass and many background voices while Whack delivers a braggadocious chorus. “I ain’t even hungry but I ate that” she ardently repeats many times across the song. One has to imagine her goal for the cut was to bring towering energy befitting the Madden video game franchise.
While I’m happy that Whack was presented with this opportunity to showcase her talents to an audience as wide as the Madden franchise’s surely is, I can’t help but yearn for the more complex artistry that was woven into her earlier material. Sure, Tierra Whack works as the MC for inspirational pump-up jams but she can do so much more on a lyrical level when left to her own devices. If songs like this were my first introduction to Whack, I wouldn’t know she was the creative mastermind behind a project like Whack World.
Joining Tierra Whack on the “Madden NFL 22” soundtrack are Swae Lee, Jack Harlow, J.I.D., Moneybagg Yo, Tank and the Bangas, 42 Dugg, and more. Listen to “8” here.
