The time is now for Sexyy Red. Late last year, Summer Walker shocked the world when she shared a video that departed from her usual style–instead of singing lovelorn R&B, the pregnant artist spat a deft rap verse and twerked to her heart’s content. “I’m NOT a rapper,” Summer clarified, “I just wanted to do hood rat stuff with my friend.”
That friend was St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red, and one listen to her music demonstrates how she could’ve convinced Summer to get down.
Who is Sexyy Red?
Born and raised in St. Louis, Sexyy Red makes unapologetically raw rap music, specializing in sexually frank lyrics that are as quotable as they are unrepeatable in polite company. The rising rapper, who gets her name from her flame-red hair, is trending on all platforms, including TikTok and Twitter, with her song “Pound Town,” a bass-boosted Tay Keith-produced banger. With over 1.15 million on-demand streams in the week ending on March 23 and lyrics that people can’t stop quoting (“I’m outta town, thuggin with my rounds”), “Pound Town” has established itself as the official anthem of Spring Break in Miami (where Sexyy searches for “all the hoochie daddies”) and beyond.
Defined by Tay Keith’s pounding piano line and Sexyy’s supremely chill Southern drawl, “Pound Town” is a song about taking pride in your body and being unafraid to express exactly what you want. Originally released in January, “Pound Town” picked up steam in the subsequent months thanks to the viral #PoundTownChallenge, which helped the song generate over 200k video creations on TikTok. With a coterie of high-profile fans tapping in and quoting their favorite lyrics, including Cardi B, GloRilla, JT of City Girls, Rico Nasty, TiaCorine, and of course, Summer Walker, plus a recent writeup in Billboard, “Pound Town” is only beginning its rise.
Is “Pound Town” Sexy Redd’s breakout moment?
“Pound Town” might be her breakthrough moment, but real (dread) heads know that Sexyy Red has been putting in work for a long time. She first turned heads with her gender-flipped remixes of songs like Three 6 Mafia’s “Slob On My Knob” (“Slob On My Ckat“) and Tay-K’s “I Love My Choppa” (“I Love My Nickel“), showing off her knack for crisp turns-of-phrase and eye-popping and viscerally frank bars. Her inventive visuals for songs like “Throwin It” and “Sexyy,” from her 2021 mixtape Ghetto Superstar, helped her build a following on YouTube (51k subscribers) and Instagram (169k followers).
Sexyy Red hype reached a fever pitch in the Fall, when she collaborated with Summer Walker on “Sense Dat God Gave You” and with fellow sex positive diva Sukihana on “Born By The River.” Built around a flip of a famous Sam Cooke lyric, the latter song was an impressive statement, earning a glowing review in Pitchfork and prompting an Instagram follow from Drake.
With much more music on deck and a burgeoning fanbase that can’t get enough of her hits, the rising rapper is preparing for a Sexyy Red Summer. Get on board now, before the ship blasts off.
Watch “Pound Town”: official video | live video | “Spring Break” video
Follow Sexyy Red on socials:
instagram (205k) | spotify (329k) | youtube (51k) | twitter (100k) | tiktok (141k)
