hen Tierra Helena Whack rhymes, she transports you to a world she imagined with extraterrestrial intelligence, wit and beauty. Hands down, her creative approach to her work is multi-dimensional.
A Philadelphia native, Whack offers one of the most creative deliveries and interesting viewpoints in the narrow concepts that have become mainstream hip hop. Noted as the first emcee to get a deal through her social media presence, on any given day, Whack is rhyming on a toilet or on the floor of her living room and even in her bed. When she feels inspired, her freestyle self kicks into overdrive and she births tomes of unconventionality given with a crafty, multifarious flow.
To add, her visual presentations of her body of work complements a shining, unique star in the industry. Whack’s audiovisual delivery of her first album, “Whack World,” displays her multidimensionality with the ability to shift and jump between personalities with ease. From a Missy Elliot influenced comic con to an Afro-futurisitic b-girl vixen who mixes luxury life with affirmations self worth. Then back to her Whack in Wonderland muppet mixture exploring issues such as abandonment from her father and rejection of a former paramour.
Before she was whacky, Tierra went by Dizzle Dizz or Ty Dizzle. It was her mother who encouraged her to join the local street freestyle ciphers throughout Philadelphia. Forced to break through a life of being an awkward Black introvert who composed her voice through writing, Whack, literally commanded a place in the freestyle scene.
When she grew uninspired by the spit circles, Whack decided to reinvent herself, hence the rebirth of Whack, using her birth name.
Her navigation in the industry was not a fairytale with airy dreams. It was a grind. Up until “Whack World,” she kept her job washing dishes because in part of her pursuit to live off her dope lyrics, she became homeless. While in high school, her mother decided to move to Atlanta. After Whack graduated, she moved back to her North Philly roots, but bounced house-to-house for months.
Now she travels the world, opening up for Childish Gambino and Guns N’ Roses. To supplement her creative hustle, she sells merchandise online while continuing to bounce back-and-forth in her worlds both on-and-off sets. We just cross our fingers that she continues to give herself, the space to grow, and be hella Whack.
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