Naalah - Paint Me The Villain (EP)

She just had to do it to em didn’t she? Naalah has a lot of bones to pick on her vulturous new EP. Fuck painting it black, I don’t know what The Rolling Stones were on but she’s here to paint the town red & if she’s painted as the villain in the process then so be it, she’ll gladly hold that title. In just 3 records, Naalah drips blood from her fangs as she sinks her teeth into each of these instrumentals. Some may see it as malicious intent, others may see it as her just being blunt & brutally honest but one thing is for certain, anybody who’s dared to have done her wrong will be subject to her wrath. On the opening track, “Manic Maniac”, love me some alliteration, she goes full on Dracula on this gothic esque, dark operatic, portentous rain cloud of a record, leaving her victims stiffer than the gargoyles looming along the sides of her castle. It’s an atrabilious start to the EP & really sets the tone for what we’re in for with the remaining two & those who’ve trespassed her boundaries will be met with a vampiric fate. There’s a lot of pain felt throughout her fervor on this record.

Then we bleed into “Average Ting”, a more subtle number as she calmly attempts to simmer back down into the slumber she was awakened from, hoping to not be disturbed yet again. As a woman in this business, let alone life, she’s already at a disadvantage. I recall her, a while back, speaking on how some artists have a hard time keeping things strictly about the music & then when they don’t get their way with her, it becomes an issue like she’s this or that but she don’t got time to babysit anybody hurt over the fact they couldn’t pull her in that way, she’s not like all these other average tings so quick to give it up willy nilly to, I don’t know, move ahead in this game, why would she ever need the help of someone with an ulterior motive? She’s gotten this far on her own & she’ll continue to get even further without their assistance. Maybe they should learn a little impulse control.

“Karma” is a bitch though & when it comes back around to bite you in your ass, you better pray that you’re prepared to feel that pain, that sting, that burn. Closing things out with a Josh Stone produced number, Naalah speaks from the perspective of karma personified as she vows to ensure that they reap what has been sewn, leaving them to tip toe along the pins & needles she so gracefully laid out for them. Overall, these 3 songs are the result of poking the bear. Sometimes, you don’t even have to really try, you could just be minding your own but people will try to test you cause of this & unfortunately for those who’ve attempted to, Naalah is very much with the shits & is remaining silent about it no longer. If you’re one of the unlucky few to be caught in her crossfire, maybe you oughta kick the bucket before the one with pig blood falls & knocks you upside your head.