The ugliest moment in an argument is when someone brings up the other’s childhood to psychoanalyze their flaws and hit them at their deepest insecurities. On “Only Child,” the first song since her stellar 2018 album Whack World, Tierra Whack wastes little time going for her ex’s jugular by pulling up the past. “You must be the only child because you’re so stingy,” she sings innocently over a warbly synth like she’s in denial about how biting that line really is. And when she starts crooning about prayin’ for her former lover, her voice stays syrupy as if she’s trying to be empathetic towards her ex for having an upbringing that was completely out of their control.
But “Only Child” is no gratitude bop like Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next.” On the second verse, Tierra’s candy-coated delivery begins to crack to reveal her true, bitter feelings. She goes in on her ex, calmly dishing out piping-hot disses: “Spiteful and malicious, hope that other chick got syphilis.” Tierra’s pacing here is crucial—something that didn’t have much opportunity to play with much when she was jam-packing surreal ideas into her one-minute Whack World snapshots. But by increasingly countering dulcet tones with painfully truthful bars throughout “Only Child”’s nearly-four minutes, Tierra builds a seemingly simple song that fully encompasses the complex range of post-breakup emotions.
