Isabella, “Tag” (Godstarborn Inc.)
It’s not every day I like a track by a 21-year-old Ethiopian-Danish model, but “Tag” by LA singer/MC Isabella slaps… very nonchalantly and effectively. Her third single—which appears on her debut album, 12 Angels (out August 2)—”Tag” follows “Three” and “More Than Words,” which are fairly conventional, if spare R&B love ballads. The new song, though, is a wonder of minimalist pop-rap, with producers Timmy Manson Jr. and Mike Barney laying down mesmerizing, double-bass jazziness, hand claps, clipped drumbeats, and sped-up paradiddles to support Isabella’s sotto voce bars. The bass part—whether sampled or played—is especially gripping, sounding like the handiwork of an older master such as Cecil McBee, Charlie Haden, Richard Davis, or Dave Holland.
Rarely does braggadocio sound so lackadaisical and sultry as it does on “Tag.” Isabella exudes reptilian cool here, exhaling words like pot smoke, with faded exasperation: “I’m a Birkin bag/You a laundry bag/Saving all the tags/You be quick to brag/Like you wanted to (ah)/Wear it like it’s new/What you gotta prove/Thinking you look cute/Dissing not a move/I been tryna get it into your head/Ain’t nothing new bout the tricks that I get/You a mess/You upset/Where’s the flex/Tried your best/And I’m a reminder of everything that you couldn’t do (ooh).”
My fashion-ignorant ass didn’t know squat about Birkin bags, but apparently they sell for about $20k. Holy shit… Nice metaphor, Is. This is peak, haughty-supermodel boast rap, a diamond-encrusted stiletto heel casually digging into your temples.
