Track Review: Hitmaka “Thot Box (Remix) [feat. Young M.A, Dreezy, Mulatto, DreamDoll, Chinese Kitty]”
Originally Written in April 2020
The original version of Hitmaka’s “Thot Box”, came out as just another bland posse cut by a pack of A-list male rappers whose techniques and wordplay overshadowed by its exuding stench of objectification and misogyny. Two months later, the remix that enlists Chinese Kitty, DreamDoll, Mulatto, Dreezy, and Young M.A completely rejuvenated the track, reaching an exciting equilibrium that has been long lost in the all-female rap history.
Mulatto opens with a slick hook. Jumping in right after the ominous piano loop, she struts off with a commanding air. Her piercing enunciation sounds composed yet dismissive, setting the tone right from the very beginning. Next comes Young M.A with the most contrasting style among her associates, putting up her womanizer persona(“I’ma kill the kitty, that’s a death threat”) as an out lesbian MC. The calculated phonetics in her playful rhyming (“vroom vroom, and that pum-pum on pooh-pooh”) unfurl as if she has gone blasé about sexual sensations. Chinese Kitty, Dreezy, and DreamDoll then take over with three fiery verses, feeding off each other’s untamed energy. Their eroticist approach manifests female sexuality in a literal (“send that ni**a home, pussy juice on his durag”; “when he hit it doggystyle, grab his balls from the back, yeah”) and literary (“had the ni**a singin’ to my pussy like Keith Sweat”; “call my box Medusa, you get hard when you see it”) blend.
The title, “Thot Box”, is the classic male gaze that disparages women and their sexuality. An all-female remix could have slain the dragon with its joined forces, but when put under scrutiny, the outcome barely resonated as a great feminist triumph. Young M.A failed to shake off the heteronormative male gaze lyrically given her queer identity. The other women were also sadly fettered by the assigned title, displaying certain misogyny around “thot” women. The exception was DreamDoll, with her mind focused on herself but no others, steering clear of the trap. “Ni**a say he tryna get up in that thot box (Ah) / but you be fuckin’ anything that walk, you got thot cock”, she even flipped the script at the end of her verse, calling out the man with no control over his genitals the real “thot”.