Prior to the release of Kacy Hill’s debut album, Like A Woman, a strange phone number was released for promotional reasons. The number 201-RED-HEAD (201-733-4323) is disguised as a sex line. When someone calls, a sexy, promiscuous sounding woman answers the line further instructing you to press numbers 1,2,3, or 4. If you press any of the first three numbers, you will hear songs from the upcoming project. The songs “Like A Woman,” “Keep Me Sane,” and “Hard to Love” play respectively. Pressing “4” will play a statement from the redhead herself:
I believe we all have the right to explore ourselves. Whatever our gender, orientation, interest, or experience, sex shouldn’t be taboo. My album Like A Woman, is a reflection of my experience with femininity. Dirty little redhead explores an unapologetic side of sexuality without shame or opposed collective belief of what is normal…
With those words, she gives potential listeners exactly what to expect, flawlessly encapsulating her artistic efforts and intentions.
This project has been a long time coming for her. Her career doesn’t have a cookie-cutter past, and in an interview with Complex, she describes her journey. She was an American Apparel model and was later recruited as a background dancer on the Yeezus Tour. Beforehand, Hill was already making her own music, and luckily, it traveled to Kanye’s gifted ears. She personally describes West as her mentor because he was the one who introduced her to the music business in 2014. Kanye is known for seeing young talent and basically signing them on the spot, i.e. Desiigner and Big Sean. Like many of his musical decisions, the legendary Chicago artist made no mistake. Kacy Hill is an alluring and talented songstress that has already mastered her own artistic sound and identity in the three years she has been with the label GOOD Music.
In late 2015, she released a 21 minute EP titled Bloo. A project that merely gave a faint foreshadowing of what was to later culminate nearly two years later with Like A Woman.
“What makes you make me feel like a woman?” — a lyric from the title track “Like A Woman”
Her poetically masterful debut album was recently released on June 30th. She sings of love and the beautiful nature of feminity over gorgeous, sometimes dark, instrumentals. Her voice paints the masterpiece that her fans have been patiently waiting for. It’s an undeniable love album that conceptualizes the female view of what love is and how to approach it. In this album, Kacy Hill sings about many aspects of her relationships. From the pretty fantasies to the ugly hardships, every word she sings is true and precious. It’s explorative in all facets of love.
She sparks listeners immediate interest in the title track “Like A Woman.” It consists of a snappy, mesmerizing instrumental where Hill’s outstanding voice leads the path. It actualizes a world of lust through sexual favors, but she also makes it clear that emotional balance between lovers is equally as important.
In “Cruel,” she shows how toxic emotions can be painful for both parties. It’s a circumstance where needing one another is the worst thing possible. The love being shared is doing nothing but injuring hearts. The song is about acknowledging unproductivity in relationships and how discontinuing them is beneficial even if it doesn’t feel like it.
The closest Kacy Hill gets to sexual innuendo through her lyrics is on “First Time.” It’s more that just a euphemism for the concept of losing your virginity. It could very well be perceived as a song about falling in and out of love for the very first time. The first heartbreak for a lot of young people can seem like the worst at the moment. They haven’t been through the repeated act of being in and out of relationships, so they allow themselves to feel every amount of unnecessary pain.
It only took one listen to determine that Like A Woman isn’t an album solely about sex. It emulates the idea that sex isn’t one thing that stands alone. Every song on this on this album contains romantic undertones filled with the sexual tension produced by the somewhat slow and ambient instrumentation.
“But I did what I did and it’s alright. To tell me that you think it’s not right” — a lyric from the song “Lion”
The simple and complex beauty of femininity and being a woman, in general, is apparent. Kacy Hill shows profound vocal proficiency on “Clarity,” a song that reflects the awful aftermath of unfortunate relationships. Not knowing can sometimes be worse than actually knowing for Hill. She is further expressing how different types of pains can spawn from broken love.
She is at her most vulnerable in “Say You’re Wrong.” This track introduces a narrative that is not foreign in relationships where partners have difficulty admitting when they are at fault. This dilemma is the beginning of the end of many relationships. Pride is something maybe people can’t put aside even for the people that claim to love.
The final track, “Am I” has her blaming herself for her bad luck of love. She passionately belts out the pulsing question “Am I a crime?” Love sometimes makes us look at ourselves in a negative way. Sometimes love is the best teacher. It helps us learn and grow, and despite the cruel ending of this album, I believe Kacy Hill has learned a lot.
You can stream the album now on Apple Music or Spotify.