REVIEW: Ashnikko's "WEEDKILLER" via Parlophone

Every once in a while, an artist is around so long it’s hard to believe that they haven’t dropped an official full length. While English rapper Ashnikko didn’t wait over a decade like another solo artist whose first record dropped this year, seven years is quite a long time. So long in fact that I didn’t realize Weedkiller was a debut as I thought we were counting 2021’s Demidevil, a mixtape that I actually took some highlights away from when it was released. In fact, throughout the years there have been quite a bit of Ashnikko tracks that had my attention, so I was excited to get into this new album.

There are lots of memorable hooks on Weedkiller, while Ashnikko certainly isn't a superb rapper she does try and she is a consistent pop vocalist. Something I do enjoy about her rap style, however, is her ability to take elements of the genre that would be laughable from her peers and make them compelling. A lot of the subjects of these songs are edgy without crossing over into accidental comedic irony. The lyrics to songs like the title track and opening track “World Eater” sound like the plot of some unreleased comic book being spun into an interesting song as opposed to some YouTube video lost in the shuffle. All of that being said, it is white girl rap and is derivative of a lot of crunkcore that’s been lost to time, it just is of a bit of a higher quality than that.


The production here is sort of basic, admittedly. Most of the record, for me, is sold on Ashnikko’s vocal talent. Take “You Make Me Sick” for example, which I do have a good time with, but whose instrumental is so bare bones that I actually don’t even have any words to tell you about the sonics found within. We do get a little more daring on tracks like “Worms” and no surprise given the Dylan Brady credit on that track. The instrumental here actually feels molded around the concepts and melodies that their performer actually came up with by presenting a desert-blues type sound. Where the record starts to fall short is that all the lesser songs are lesser because they have no hook to speak of and do nothing to hold their audience’s attention beyond that. For example “Don’t Look at It” does have an interesting motif but I cannot recall a single thing about it outside of that. Even at that the hooks start to fall off in the second half, coming off way more sloppy than their side-a counterparts.


As I keep saying there are some diamonds here, starting especially with “Cheerleader.” On this one Ashnikko raps like she’s Queen B and has the attitude to back it up. This condescending attitude is presented in such a way where you can listen to this and apply it to yourself for a bit of a confidence boost. We’re also working with the production here as opposed to just using it as a backdrop. That very confidence is something I wish we got more of coming in like the lesbian smack talking on “Miss Nectarine” but comes in so few and far between that it feels like a completely underutilized aspect of Ashnikko’s music as a whole. Ethel Cain also comes through on closing track “Dying Star,” which goes over well and Ethel sounds incredible here but it sort of also comes off as an Ethel Cain b-side as opposed to an Ashnikko finale track. Which is strange as Hayden doesn’t even appear to have co-written.


I think my biggest takeaway is that this feels strange as a debut record given that she’s been around so long, and the mixtape was just as coherent as this record is. By this album’s release I have heard all the ideas that Ashnikko tries to present here in her singles and other projects, and it really cushions the impact in a negative way. Still, it’s short and easy to digest and while I do like a lot of the tracks here, I don’t find this to be a very strong project as a whole.

I liked this record

Favorite tracks:
  1. World Eater
  2. You Make Me Sick!
  3. Worms
  4. Super Soaker [feat. Daniela Lalita]
  5. Don't Look at It
  6. Cheerleader
  7. Moonlight Magic
  8. Miss Nectarine
  9. Chokehold Cherry Python
  10. WEEDKILLER
  11. Want it All
  12. Possession of a Weapon
  13. Dying Star [feat. Ethel Cain]

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