In an interview with Jordan Rose for Complex, Tierra Whack opened up about what led her to close out her new album World Wide Whack with the heavy track "27 Club."
The 28-year-old Philly rapper's long-awaited debut effort sees her getting more personal than before, tackling heavy subject matter including suicide. Tracks such as "Numb," "Difficult," "Two Night," and "27 Club" in particular directly address mortality and her mental health struggles. When asked about the writing process behind "27 Club," she shared that she didn't know where she was going with the song until she said "Suicide," which is the core refrain at the center of the closing track's chorus.
"The first line, 'I can show you how it feels, when you lose what you love,' I'm like, 'Okay, where do I go from here?' And the words just started flowing, and then I said, 'suicide,' and I'm like, 'Wow, this is what I've been wanting to say. This is what I've been wanting to do,' and I felt light like a feather," she explained. "For so long, I was just heavy, like sunken in. But after I was done recording that song, I was like, 'Yeah, this is it.' I felt a release."
The title of the track is a reference to artists who have died at age 27, all of whom proved to be massively influential. Notable examples include Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, and Jim Morrison.
"As the years went on, I was like, 'Yo, I'm not feeling this fame thing.' And then it just kind of clicked to me and I'm like, 'Oh, maybe this is why these artists made that decision. So I started to feel like I was relating to that situation, and I was 27," she shared, before explaining why she decided to close out the album with the song. "I was going to end it all, so why not end the project with the song that I was going to end it all with?"
Thankfully, she said that she's been able to move past those feelings thanks to the support of her mother. "She held a mirror up and was just like, 'No, remember why you started,'" she said. "Something just clicked, and from that day on, we had a conversation, and I just made the conscious effort to want to be better, to want to feel better. To love myself, to care more about myself, and it's just something I have to practice every day. It's like a routine."
In the song, Whack directly addresses her feelings. "I can show you how it feels / When you lose what you love," she raps. "When your life gets hard but it's simple / When everybody 'round you suspenseful / It ain't really hard to convince you / Lookin' for somethin' to commit to?"
Listen to Whack's debut album World Wide Whack here, and her full interview with Jordan Rose here.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
