Ho, Why Is You Here? is a flex-heavy, club-ready mixtape from a rapper of uncommon confidence, even for the hip hop world.
Fresh to the hip hop scene (and already boasting a viral TikTok track), 20-year-old Flo Milli’s debut mixtape, Ho, Why Is You Here?, is a work built on fantastic bars and a welcomingly bright flow that is a pure joy to spin. It’s an album of surefire club hits, effectively appealing to both modern and classic rap fans alike, a work of pure vibe where every line is an absolute flex. “Beef FloMix,” the mixtape’s first breakout track, wastes no time in getting down to business: “He love my confidence and that’s what you lack (You love it) / If you think I’m stealin’ swag, bitch, come and sue me (Sue me).” It’s a track that’s illustrative to the entire experience of Ho, as Flo Milli proceeds to stunt across every track about her levels of success. “Pockets Bigger” continues this assertion: “I know they mad ’cause I got money in the bank (I do) / I get a new hater every single day (Haha).”
This may sound like old hat, as hubris is a governing principle of hip hop, and yet Flo Milli still stands out for the degree of unadulterated confidence she exudes. Her very appeal, and that of her music, is that — beyond the catalog of superficial glories she documents — she already possesses what everyone wants: purpose, and a drive to be better and more. It’s not uncommon for such things to dissipate alongside aging and life’s labors, but Flo Milli makes it clear she has no intention of stopping: every track addresses her haters, those who try to bring her down, and the people who want to rob her of her success, and she clearly draws untold energy from such challenges to her queendom. Flo Milli is simply unsinkable against such assaults, shutting them down at every turn with effortless charisma (and counterassault). Barbs seem to fly out of her quick as a snap, an almost instinctual reminder of who she is and what she’ll make of you if you’re against her. But, more simply, in a genre too littered with weak posturing, it feels damn good to listen to rap this successfully sure of itself. It’s an ethos with an admittedly short-term expiration date, and so variance and growth of sound and soul will be necessary to remain fresh in the future, but Ho, Why Is You Here? is a solid debut effort that maps the blueprint of the rapper’s sure future success. At this moment, given the amalgam of her critical acclaim, massive fanbase, and unfaltering swagger, it seems nearly impossible for Flo Milli to fail.
Published as part of What Would Meek Do? | Q3 2020 Issue.
