Whitney Peyton is a female, underground rapper from Philadelphia. She's not too popular, but she has a lot of amazing potential that is showcased very well on Break the Frame, no matter how bad the album cover art is. In fact, her following is so small that I cannot find much information about Break the Frame; I have no idea who produced it. Regardless, Break the Frame is a underground rap album with EDM and rock elements that dropped on January 5th, 2016. It consists of 10 songs, with 7 out of 10 of those songs having credited features. Not many people would know her, but any rap fan can quickly tell how amazing her flow and delivery is right off the bat.
The intro, eponymously called "Break the Frame", quickly sets Peyton's personality as a fierce, independent, and shameless MC. She doesn't play the feminine card that many female rappers like to use; instead she sets herself above that line, with fierce and defining lyrics : "If you trying to put me in a box I'm bound to break the frame." She slightly reminds me of Snow Tha Product; a collab between the two would surely be amazing.
The second track, "Broken Road", shows Peyton's more emotional side, even though her rapping stays aggressive. The production is great on this song, with a mix of simple piano and hard dubstep, and Allie Santos's chorus contrasts with Peyton's verses perfectly. Peyton shows a slice of her life story, her struggle with spirituality and her family, and the heartbreaks that she's had. It's honestly a very good song, and Peyton's "go hard" rap style somehow still works even with a more vulnerable song like this one.
"Red Light" returns as a fast, sassy banger, obviously meant to be more fun then meaningful. The production does seem kind of lazy on this track, but it's certainly not a bad song; just average, with a bad chorus. The verses are nothing to complain about, however.
"Too Far Gone" actually seems very similar to an Eminem song. It's a power song with a message about how bad the world has gotten in terms of hate and insane standards. The male-sung chorus is actually really good, but the production needs a little bit of work, and the bridge is a pointless rally instead of anything meaningful.
"Sticks and Stones" revives Peyton's theme of self-importance and independence. It has two features on it: a rapper and a female chorus singer, and they both shine well. The rapper in particular, Jelly Roll, has an infectiously catchy flow. The jazzy piano riffs also compliment Peyton's sassy bars in this track.
"Wake The Neighbors" is one of the few solo tracks on Break the Frame. It's a banger with some of Peyton's best bars yet; her flow is amazing on this track. Her lyrics are also pretty clever, and the synths and in the background are great.
"Word of Mouth" is one of the singles on the album, and it totally deserves that. In her own words, she "switches up her style with an old-school flow", which is a nice change from her normal aggressive style. The chorus is so ridiculous catchy, and it gets into your head so easily. However, Kung Fu Vampire's verse seems kind of unnecessary, especially because it doesn't fit the more retro theme that the rest of the song adopts.
"Gasoline" switches back to a more somber style, even though the production and Peyton's rapping remains aggressive. It's about a hard breakup, with the Allie Santos-sung chorus going "I burned the bridge/ but you burned the gasoline/ and lit the match for me." This song actually seems kind of corny to me, the production is bad, and the chorus doesn't have as much emotion as it should. It's probably the worst song on the album.
"Flatline" is hard for me to rate. It actually adopts a punk rock style, so fundamentally different from the EDM ruled production on Break the Frame. I know that punk rock/rap can work, as Lil Wayne has proved, but I just don't think that the featured artist on this track does Peyton justice. His voice is too strange to me, but Peyton does have some good bars on this song.
"It's all Good" is a great closing track. The verses again sound very much like Eminem, but the chorus sounds like something from the 80's. Peyton is especially fierce in this track, and the song ends very strong with :"Before I leave the game/ best believe I'ma burn it down".
Overall, Peyton is an amazing rapper, with a ton of potential. I think she deserves more followers than she has; she's not just another "female rapper", she has a distinct personality and flow that surpasses gender roles. My biggest complaint is how many features were on this album. I think that Peyton should've had a bit more of the spotlight.
Final Verdict:
72/100
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