“Cartoons”

The Chicago MC CupcakKe has been pigeonholed as a lust rapper because of her raunchy lyrics and sex positivity, but a deeper dive into her catalog reveals her to be a versatile performer. She handles topics like abuse and trauma with a light touch, and is as comfortable making quiet, introspective songs as she is hardcore drill tracks. On “Cartoons,” the second single from her untitled forthcoming mixtape, CupcakKe returns to her bar-heavy drill mentality mentality, using imagery from “The Flintstones” and “Scooby Doo” to add color to her boasts. She delivers aggressive raps through wind-chime synths that twinkle around her, as thumping drum patterns alternate. When the beat opens up, leaving nothing but a banging steel drum, she fills up the remaining space with her commanding voice. CupcakKe is great at countering the weight and force of her raps with easy-to-connect ideas, and on “Cartoons” she pairs complex, balanced rhyme schemes with jokes that are simple but effective (“Last year they like ‘Don’t book her’/This year I’m everybody sister/Nosy hoes all in my business when/Bitches should be out pickin’ boogers”). She is among rap’s best and most graphic writers of erotica, but as “Cartoons” shows, she’s also capable of so much more.